Guest Lecture-Mike Nickerson He is an Ecologist looks at the world from the perspective of the planet having a finite level

el of resourcesand global growth is an unattainable goal In 1971 founded Institute for Sustainability o 8 point outline to sustain the world o Written 3 books One question: what do you think the biggest news on planet earth is today?expansion of the human race We need to figure out how to stop expansion or we will not be able to remain as a species In the past: fishing was the foundation of the Maritime areasmore fish you catch more money.classic business success. Then it collapsed. fish stock was ignored b.c for 4 centuries there was no problemno longer how much we invest is how much we get its now how much is left Being done w/:fossil fuels, trees, natural gas etc. 2 Laws in nature: Law of minimum: how much resources we need and how much is offered Law of tolerance: how much waste can the world take ie. With yeast they die after 14% Must resolve our cultures to live w/in these laws There was a time for growth and time to stop. Society needs to stop growing. Have negative feedback from the mediatelling us that we need material objects in our lives Technology has allowed us to get the greatest perception in the worldhave info from generations & mass media can spread knowledge across the world Need to choose: growing until we drop or maintain sustainability In 1980s acid rain caught the eye of the governmentreduce 50% of emissions in 10 years got it done in 7 years o Problem is although we had reduced 50% --since we are perpetually expanding it keeps increase and thus makes our solution null Media goes crazy always saying that economy isnt growingeconomy has to grow to be healthy o Growth hormone of collective human organism: 4 cowboysthirsty and hotgo to bar to drinkbartender lends them card but wants collateraltakes their saddle and holstersays he wants 14 cards back even though he only gave them each 13 someones gonna lose their saddle o Most of the problems come from LOANSas you pay your loan back there is the problem with the 14th card. Had interest but that money has to come from somewheretherefore money must continually be loaned more and payed back so it must continually increase o Money is really about skills, resources and tradingmoney allows you to interact with the whole worldmoney is charged for (its expensive)every time it passes through the bank we get charged

August 15th Richard Nixon: severed connection btwn money and gold Day after 9/11 Bush said America Under Attack said go to the mall and shopb.c people werent spendingbusinesses werent getting the money to pay back their loans o They decided to change the housing systemno down payment requiredevery house signed 100-200 thousand dollars went into economy o Then inflation occurred with oilthen the people who werent fit to have a house (some didnt even have a job), were faced with interest charges they couldnt handle and the housing market CRASHED To keep it growing you need to: inflate it (increase taxes etc.) or extract growth from other sources Life is not hard to maintain on this planet o 1600s Jean Baptiste von Helmholtztook a branch from a willow tree-after 5 years it was watered 164 pounds of growth and only 2 ounches of soil was gone o Most life stuff is from gas o We get much satisfaction from our lives w/ family, friends etc. o Head of Design schoolengaged his faculty with the World Gamedid an inventory of world trades and resourcessays humanity needs to treat our planet like a spaceship Pattern integrity; physical substances that make us up change over the course of 7 years- you are a completely different physical substance but you have a spirit Every organism and substance draws upon the same biomass We need to stop releasing waste as we all draw on the same biomass o We used to grow things closebut now we have to transport it and the agriculture system has become dependent on continually imputing money We have to close the cycles o Extended producers responsibility: in Europe they have to deal with their product when consumers no longer want them or their packaging i.e. Mercedes Benz in this programwent from 10 plastics to 3 plastics Key element for social change is legitimacy: conversations go on until a plan is made then the shift occurs to change o Currently to be a good citizen: spend money!! should be really for us to sustain the world for the future o Legitimacy is important because we are weak without our societytools, words, concepts etc. are all taught by society We have less chance of success by ourselves than a chipmunk. Therefore we need to maintain our contact with society Remember: how a caterpillar becomes a butterflyalways growing until it has enough then it changes into a butterfly which consumes very little only the nectar of flowersit is beautiful and only aim is to promote the future generations o First cells that became the butterfly are from its IMMUNE systemcaterpillar feels sick so it changes its form

After parts of the caterpillar changes a bit- the new cells combine together and block out the influence of the caterpillar and allow the full transformation o Once the butterfly form is created all the protoplasm from the caterpillar flows into the butterfly What is sustainability? The 8 points on the back of the card explain what it is. o On the card: Long-Term Well-Being can be sustained when activities: 1)use materials in continuous cucles 2)use continuously reliable sources of energy 3)come mainly from the qualities of human (i.e. creativity, communication, movement, appreciation and spiritual and intellectual development). o Long term well-being is diminished when activities: 4)require continual inputs of non-renewable resources 5)use renewable resources faster than their rate of renewal 6)Cause cumulative degradation of the environment 7)Require resources in quantities that undermine other peoples well being 8)Lead to the extinction of other life forms Our generation is the one that will bring the Human race into maturity