Fatal Consumption: Rethinking Sustainable Development

280 Pages·2000·1.932 MB·English

by  Aleck S. Ostry

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Fatal Consumption
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The Sustainability and the Environment series provides a comprehensive,
independent, and critical evaluation of environmental and sustainability issues
affecting Canada and the world today.
1 Anthony Scott, John Robinson, and David Cohen, eds., Managing Natural
Resources in British Columbia: Markets, Regulations, and Sustainable Development
(1995)
2 John B. Robinson, Life in 2030: Exploring a Sustainable Future for Canada(1996)
3 Ann Dale and John B. Robinson, eds., Achieving Sustainable Development(1996)
4 John T. Pierce and Ann Dale, eds., Communities, Development, and Sustainability
across Canada (1999)
5 Robert F. Woollard and Aleck Ostry, eds. Fatal Consumption: Rethinking
Sustainable Development (2000)
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Edited by Robert F. Woollard
and Aleck S. Ostry
Fatal Consumption:
Rethinking Sustainable
Development
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© UBC Press 2000
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission of the publisher, or,
in Canada, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from CANCOPY
(Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency), 900 - 6 Adelaide Street East, Toronto, ON M5C1H6.
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper ∞
ISBN 0-7748-0786-5
ISSN 1196-8575 (Sustainability and the Environment)
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Fatal consumption
(Sustainability and the environment, ISSN 1196-8575)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7748-0786-5
1. Sustainable development. 2. Sustainable development – Case studies. 3. Sustainable devel-
opment – British Columbia – Lower Mainland – Case studies. I. Woollard, Robert F. II. Ostry,
Aleck Samuel, 1952- III. Series.
HC117.B8F37 2000 333.7 C00-910443-7
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities and Social Sciences
Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council of Canada.
UBC Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book
Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities.
We also gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publish-
ing program, as well as the support of the British Columbia Arts Council.
Printed and bound in Canada by Friesens
Copy editor: Judy Phillips
Proofreader: Fran Aitkens
Indexer: Elizabeth Bell
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Consumption:
1. The action or fact of consuming or destroying, destruction.
4. Wasting of the body by disease; a wasting disease; now applied specif-
ically to pulmonary consumption or phthisis (Tuberculosis).
7. Pol. econ. The destructive employment or utilization of the products
of industry.
– Oxford English Dictionary, 1971
“No, ’tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but ’tis
enough, ’twill serve. Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a
grave man.”
– Mercutio in Romeo and JulietIII.I.100
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Contents
Acknowledgments/ ix
Introduction: Fatal Consumption (When Too Much Is Not Enough)/ 3
Robert F. Woollard
Part 1: The Global Reality of Sustainability
1 Ecological Footprints and the Pathology of Consumption/ 21
William E. Rees
2 Global Consumption from the Perspective of Population Health/ 52
ClydeHertzman and Shona Kelly
3 Social Capital, Civil Society, and Social Transformation/ 69
Michael Carr
Part 2: The Box We Are In and Some Ways Out
4 What Is Stopping Sustainability? Examining the Barriers to
Implementation of Clouds of Change/ 101
Jennie L. Moore
5 Integrating Economy, Society, and Environment through Policy
Assessment/ 130
Peter Boothroyd
6 Local versus Central Influences in Planning for Community Health/ 166
Lawrence W.Green and Jean A. Shoveller
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viii Contents
Part 3: Case Examples and the Reason for Hope
7 The City of Richmond: Reflections on Sustainability in Action/ 200
Janette McIntosh and Robert F. Woollard
8 The BC Sawmill Industry: A Case Study of Community and Ecological
Sustainability/ 228
Aleck S. Ostry
Conclusion: Working Together and the Prospect for Hope/ 248
Robert F. Woollard
Contributors/ 264
Index/ 266
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Acknowledgments
The editors and authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of the Science
Council of British Columbia, the Canadian Tri-Council Eco-Research Fund,
the Government of British Columbia, and the City of Richmond, who pro-
vided funding and ancillary support for the research contained in this
book.
We would also like to thank the many students whose work we hope is
fairly represented within the chapters of this volume – four of them have
contributed chapters or major portions of chapters to this volume. A par-
ticular appreciation goes to Janette McIntosh and Dr. Matis Wackernagel,
whose contributions have had a sustaining influence on the group and its
ideas. The dedicated work of Shirley Tam in preparing much of the initial
manuscript is gratefully acknowledged.
Finally, we would like to express our appreciation to our various families
and friends who were alternately tolerant and supportive during the years
of research and subsequent writing.
This book was published with the assistance of the Aid to Scholarly
Publications Programme.
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