Suggested Reading

Mid-Course Correction, Toward a Sustainable Enterprise: The Interface Model by Ray Anderson, The Peregrinzilla Press, 1998 - Jim Hunt, Governor of North Carolina, says this book "combines bottomline business sense with a passionate desire to leave tomorrow's children a healthier planet. The result is a blueprint for corporate environmental responsibility that should be required reading in every board room and business school."

Cool Companies: How the Best Businesses Boost Profits and Productivity by Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Joseph Romm, Island Press, 1999 - shows how energy efficiency investments improve productivity, yield high return on investment, and mitigate climate change. Another important book about the next industrial revolution which is accelerating Earth toward a better tomorrow.

Upsizing, The Road to Zero Emissions: More Jobs, More Income and No Pollution by Gunter Pauli, Greenleaf Publishing, 1998 - Considered by some to be a utopian target, zero emissions as a concept clearly describes what business and industry of the future must aim to achieve.

Mapping the Journey: Case Studies in Strategy and Action toward Sustainable Development by Lorinda Rowledge, Russell Barton and Kevin Brady, Greenleaf Publishing, 1999 - Case studies which provide visions of a more sustainable future, and shed light on the path, milestones and solutions -- in particular the management processes these organizations employed.

Six influential books that continue to inspire are available from New Society Publishers:

To order, call 1-800-567-6772 or check out their website at: www.newsociety.com

Our Ecological Footprint by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees, 1996 - presents an understandable way to measure and visualize the resources required to sustain our households, communities, regions and nations.

in Earth's Company by Carl Frankel, 1998 - identifies the key elements of the emerging era of corporate environmentalism and details the many concepts and technologies for creating a sustainable future that have already been developed and are in place.

cannibals with forks by John Elkington, 1998 - demonstrates how all businesses can and must pick up the three-pronged fork of sustainability to help society achieve the interlinked goals of economic prosperity, environmental protection, and social equity.

The Natural Step for Business by Brian Nattrass and Mary Altomare, 1999 - explains how The Natural Step provides a simple yet elegant framework to integrate environmental issues into the frame of business reality. Provides detailed case studies of four leading corporations - IKEA, Scandic Hotels, Interface, and Collins Pine - that are using The Natural Step as a central part of their corporate strategies.

The Growth Illusion by Richard Douthwaite, 1999 Revised Edition - reveals in a compelling argument why economic growth has enriched the few, impoverished the many, and endangered the planet. "Growth in fact produces jobs in exactly the way a chain letter produces money," says Douthwaite on page 87. An enlightening and honest appraisal of the effects of pursuing economic growth.

Ripples from the Zambeszi by Ernesto Siroli, 1999 - empowers and inspires communities anywhere to develop the ability to create their own prosperous future in the face of the forces of globalization.

For an explanation of humanity's place in nature and our utter dependence on its gifts of air, water, soil and the energy of the sun, The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki and Amanda McConnell (Greystone Books, 1997) is highly recommended. As stated by E.O. Wilson on the dust jacket, "This book is the most complete expression to date of an environmental ethic from one of the world's leading conservation writers, combining science, theology, poetry and philosophy to express a world view towards which the human species must shift in the twenty-first century. The Sacred Balance has a beautiful spirit."

A new business model is outlined in the much praised book Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and Hunter Lovins. Published in September 1999 by Little, Brown and Company, exerpts and chapters can be downloaded free using Adobe Acrobat Reader from the Natural Capitalism website at www.naturalcapitalism.com "This book is a 'must read' for those leaders in government and business who do not believe that sustainability is necessary or practical. It shows both the need and the way to all those who are not yet ready to do what we must do to leave a livable world to our grandchildren." —Murray Duffin, Vice-president Total Quality and Environmental Management, STMicroelectronics. (Chapter 8 entitled "Capital Gains" offers compelling evidence for a tax shift from labour, business and personal income to waste, toxins and primary resources.)

Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly published four articles (#s 667, 668, 670 and 676) about the meaning of sustainability and The Natural Step in September and November 1999. They can be accessed through this publication's website at www.rachel.org/

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released the Global Environmental Outlook 3 (GEO-3) on May 22, 2002. The report sees a bleak outlook for the future unless radical action is taken now. Poverty and excessive consumption -- the twin evils of humankind that were highlighted in the previous two GEO reports -- continue to put enormous pressure on the environment. The unfortunate result is that sustainable development remains largely theoretical for the majority of the world's population of more than 6 billion people. The GEO-3 report can be found at the following web site: www.unep.org/GEO/geo3/index.htm