When the shoe doesn’t fit
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to sit in on a presentation at the Sustainable Oregon conference, organized by the Association of Oregon Recyclers. The presentation entitled “Sustainable Consumption: Why, What, and How?” was delivered by David Allaway (Oregon DEQ) and Lauren Norris (City of Portland). In the presentation, David and Lauren shared highlights from a recent workshop held in Eugene, OR. The Role of Cities in Advancing Sustainable Consumption workshop consisted of academic researchers and policy experts seeking to explore actions that cities can take towards achieving a more sustainable consumption rate at the local level.
In the year 2015, it’s hard to accept the fact that advancements in technology alone will not solve the over-consumption problem we have created on its own. David Allaway spoke of the global consumption crisis that is upon us – our global ecological footprint is equal to approximately 1.5 of the Earth’s. What does that mean?