There is almost universal recognition that global warming is occuring, and some organizations are taking steps to create sustainable enterprises as a means of reducing their energy usage and costs. According to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, sustainability is conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources.
Don and I had the good fortune to hear recently Ray Anderson, Chairman and Founder of Interface, give a keynote address on his reinvention of Interface as a green business. You can read the story in his book, Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise: The Interface Model.
As a consequence of Anderson's inspiring talk, I propose that every book in the Global Text series should, where appropriate, have a chapter on sustainability. It is very appropriate for a project that is global in scope and goals to advance the cause of sustainability. I have taken action by asking Peter Sclavos, a University of Georgia freshman assisting the Global Text Project, to help me write a chapter for the Information Systems book on sustainability.
Global warming and sustainability are everyone's problems, and we should all look to find some way of contributing to reducing global warming and creating a sustainable society. For my part, I've driven a Toyota Prius for the last two years and shifted to a mainly vegetarian diet. However, as someone who travels by air about once a month, I need to do some carbon trading. I am looking for ways to plant trees that will cover my carbon expenditures.
Rick
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