English language Quote by David Owen
““One of the least meaningful and most overused words in the English language is 'sustainability.' For most Americans, it means something like 'pretty much the way I live right now, though maybe with a different car.' A good test of any activity or product described as sustainable is to multiply it by 300 million (the approximate current population of the United States) and then by 9 or 10 billion (the expected population of the world by midcentury) and see if it still seems green. This is not an easy test to pass””
About This Quote
Source Interview: Podcast on sustainability, 2022
The term “sustainability” is often overused and vague; true sustainability must scale to billions of people without losing its green impact.
In simple terms: Sustainability must work at massive scale.
Key Takeaway
Test claims by scaling them globally.
Themes
environment
language
critical thinking
policy
economics
Mood
skeptical
analytical
Type
critical
analytical
When to use this quote
- product design
- policy making
- consumer choices
- corporate reporting
Key Concepts
systems thinking
scale
impact assessment
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we design truly scalable green solutions?
- What metrics reveal hidden impacts?
A Different Perspective
Scaling may reveal hidden environmental costs.
