The Invisible, and Growing Ecological Footprint of Digital Technology

By Paul Mobbs, Free Range Activisim Website

The elements of our lifestyle which we most closely identify with tend to be off-limits to any critical discussion. This is one explanation as to why recent research on the impact of digital technology is missing from the popular ecological debate. But as 96% of British adults have a mobile device{1} the footprint of digital technology can no longer be ignored. From electronic waste to carbon emissions, it’s taking on a life of its own.

What is ‘Ecological Economics’ and Why Do We Need to Talk About it?

By Anitra Nelson, Brian Coffey, The Conversation

As environmental crises and the urgency to create ecological sustainability escalate, so does the importance of ecological economics. This applied, solutions-based field of studies is concerned with sustainability and development, rather than efficiency and growth.

When People Downsize to Tiny Houses, they Adopt more Environmentally Friendly Lifestyles

By Maria Saxton, The Conversation

Interest is surging in tiny homes – livable dwelling units that typically measure under 400 square feet. Much of this interest is driven by media coverage that claims that living in tiny homes is good for the planet.

Ted Nordhaus Is Wrong: We Are Exceeding Earth’s Carrying Capacity

By Richard Heinberg, Undark

In his article, “The Earth’s Carrying Capacity for Human Life is Not Fixed,” Ted Nordhaus, co-founder of the Breakthrough Institute, a California-based energy and environment think tank, seeks to enlist readers in his optimistic vision of the future. It’s a future in which there are many more people on the planet and each enjoys a high standard of living, while environmental impacts are reduced. It’s a cheery vision. If only it were plausible.

Our Economy is a Degenerative System

By Daniel Christian Wahl, P2P Foundation

Our ecological footprint exceeds the Earth’s capacity to regenerate. A number of useful indicators and frameworks have been developed to measure the ecological impact that humanity and its dominant economic system with its patterns of production, consumption and waste-disposal are having on the planet and its ecosystems.

Resource Limitations

By Chris Nelder, William E. Rees, Energy Transition Show

How do we know at what level our consumption is sustainable, and when we’re in planetary overshoot? How do we quantify what the planet’s capacity is to meet human demands, and how much of that capacity is renewable, and how much of it is just being permanently depleted? And once we had a way to quantify that, what would we do with that information?

Beyond the Footprint

By Rocky Rohwedder, Resilience.org

To be sustainable as a global village — to be able to keep all of our human and ecological systems healthy — we also need to aggressively identify and bring to market a wide range of affordable, ecologically-sound development strategies in the highly-populated, emerging nations.

Do We Have the Courage to Bring the 800-lb Gorilla out of the Corner?

By Jimmy Fox, The Daly News

The planet’s ability to provide useful materials and absorb wastes (its biocapacity) is deemed essential to sustain human life. Yet consumption of those useful materials (our ecological footprint) per person is rising at an alarming and unsustainable rate.

How many people can a state sustain?

By George Plumb, The Daly News

To be sustainable, an economy can’t expand to a size that overwhelms the ecological capacity of the place it occupies.

Sustainable Development Professionals: Does Your Flight Render Your Efforts Futile?

By Josh Kearns, Resilience.org

The Break Even Ecological Footprint (BEEF) concept provides a quantitative answer to the question of how long a Western IHE/SCD professional would have to live at a local, developing community Ecological Footprint level in order to offset the CO2 they emitted by air travel to the field.