The Zeronauts: Breaking the Sustainability Barrier

by Elkington; John

• ISBN13: 9781849713979
• ISBN10: 1849713979
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-06-21
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In the last century, Astronauts (meaning space sailors) launched into the heavens, in search of new worlds to colonize-their adventures helping to catalyze the evolution of everything from non-stick frying pans and minicomputers to satellite telecommunications. Their work forced our species to recognize that our Earth is a very rare planet indeed-and our only home for the foreseeable future.Now a new wave of explorers, adventurers and entrepreneurs is pioneering novel ways to create wealth in tune with the twenty-first century reality of a human population pushing towards 10 billion people by mid-century-and with key elements of the planet's biosphere already coming apart at the seams. These are the Zeronauts. Featuring contributions by 25 of the world's leading innovators -and drawing on interviews and surveys of many more, the book showcases the pioneers that are at the cutting edge of the global sustainability movement, which the author, John Elkginton, has helped create and lead over several decades. Elkington introduces the emerging disciplines of zero-impact design, engineering and management-through the personal experiences and reflections of the leading practitioners putting us on a path to a zero impact economy: Zero Risk, Zero Emissions, Zero Pollution & Waste, Zero Biodiversity Loss and Zero Population GrowthLeading Zeronauts explain how they came to wake up to the challenges, they speak about the mistakes they have made along the way-and the lessons they have learned in the process, offering their advice on how we can get others to the same point in terms of thinking and action. From this, Elkington distils a concise set of rules for success. Concluding with recommendations for governments, investors, innovators and educators, the book shares the lessons learned from scores of people worldwide who are helping define the scale of the challenges our species now faces-and, crucially, developing and deploying at scale some of the solutions that will provide the building-blocks of tomorrow's economies-and the foundations for some of the future's greatest fortunes.

Author Biography

John Elkington has been a leader in the environmental and sustainability movements since the early 1970s. He has cofounded three companies: Environmental Data Services (ENDS) in 1978, Sustain Ability in 1987, and Volans in 2008. All three still push the boundaries. He has published 17 previous books, including the number one bestseller The Green Consumer Guide.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary	p. x
List of Figures, Tables, and Boxes	p. xiii
Foreword	p. xvi
Acknowledgements	p. xxi
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations	p. xxv
Introduction: Helping the Future Take Flight	p. 1
Zero: The New Black	p. 15
Breaking the Sustainability Barrier	p. 17
Houston, We Have A(nother) Problem	p. 30
Enter the Zeronauts	p. 43
Cracking the 1-Earth Code	p. 59
Turbulent Teens: Our Detox Decade	p. 61
Citizens
Corporations
Cities
Countries
Civilizations
Breaking Through	p. 121
The Race to Zero	p. 123
Zeronautics 101	p. 142
Eureka!
Experimentation
Enterprise
Ecosystems
Economy
It's the System that's Stupid	p. 181
Population
Pandemics
Poverty
Pollution
Proliferation
Beyond Zero	p. 221
Ambassadors from the Future	p. 223
The Zero Countdown - and Beyond	p. 243
Glossary	p. 249
Notes	p. 253
Index	p. 269
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.