Sustainability by Design: A Subversive Strategy for Transforming Our Consumer Culture

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(as of Oct 08, 2026 05:33:56 UTC – Details)

The developed world, increasingly aware of “inconvenient truths” about global warming and sustainability, is turning its attention to possible remedies—eco-efficiency, sustainable development, and corporate social responsibility, among others. But such measures are mere Band-Aids, and they may actually do more harm than good, says John Ehrenfeld, a pioneer in the field of industrial ecology. In this deeply considered book, Ehrenfeld challenges conventional understandings of “solving” environmental problems and offers a radically new set of strategies to attain sustainability.

The book is founded upon this new definition: sustainability is the possibility that humans and other life will flourish on Earth forever. There are obstacles to this hopeful vision, however, and overcoming them will require us to transform our behavior, both individually and collectively. Ehrenfeld identifies problematic cultural attributes—such as the unending consumption that characterizes modern life—and outlines practical steps toward developing sustainability as a mindset. By focusing on the “being” mode of human existence rather than on the unsustainable “having” mode we cling to now, he asserts, a sustainable world is within our reach.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001JAH82I
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press
Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 23, 2008
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1.9 MB
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 271 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300142808
Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #4,845,729 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) #1,177 in Sustainable Development Economics #1,371 in Sustainable Business Development #1,583 in Ecology (Kindle Store)
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