Now I am 43, I am married and I have three kids, Ania (2), Jorge (8) and Maria (10). I am working as Sales Director for a Multinational Business Intelligence Software Manufacturer in Spain. I honestly believe that my wife and I having a job means that we are very priviledged people as we currently have an unemployment rate of above 20% in Spain.
It looks like that we as a human race are blindly and happily racing with 200 miles per hour in red Ferrari's towards a steep wall just 10 miles ahead and we forgot to put a break into them.
Five years ago I came to the conclusion that all what I have learnt and studied 20 years ago about Macro- and Microeconomics at the University in Trier (Germany) could not properly explain what we as human race are currently doing with planet earth and with ourselves.
So I decided to work on a new theory that as the main principle assumes that all resources are limited and that our (Human race) goal is to reach a total balance between the resources we use (Input) and the resources we produce (Output).
Input is defined as all tangible and intangible goods we need to produce the output.
Output is defined as all tangible and intangible goods we produce while we build, use and waste the output where the tangible output as a whole or in parts must be 100% reusable/recycable.
Residuals: Residuals are defined as output that cannot be reused or recycled immedeatly but should be biologically degradable and on a term no longer than 1o years in order to not create big amounts of disturbing waste.
Today I got inspired by a documental (TVE 2) http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20110104/productos-consumo-duran-cada-vez-menos/392498.shtml (Spanish) called "Buy, Throw Away, Buy" discussing an economic phenomenon called "Programmed Needlessness" where I learnt that since the 1920's the manufacturing industry instead of building products that are lasting every time a bit longer the industry tends to manipulate the products, materials and even the software inside to push the customer instead of repairing the product to buy a new one. Otherwise - the argument is - Growth will be difficult to maintain.
People like John Thackara (http://www.doorsofperception.com/) promote and support projects that try to use a different sustainable approach. These projects are not necessarily businesses and can deal wikth try toilets, seed banks or de-motrisation. On their "about" page they state "In order to do things differently, people need to see things differently." Also they started this project as a "Think-and-do-Tank" which was funded with money from the government of the Netherlands. I like two things here: It is something concrete but it also states that in order to do things different you must be able to change your mind before!
Apple's Ipod was one example where Apple intentionally used batteries for it's iPod that did not last longer than 18 months and once broken Apple would not ship replacement for these batteries. As a result, Apple has been sued by some individual in the US and had to change its policy regarding the change of broken batteries.
But the most inspiring idea was brought up by a concept called "Cradle to Cradle" by William McDonough's and the German chemist Michael Braungart. Their Book "Cradle to Cradle", is a manifesto calling for the transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design. Through historical sketches on the roots of the industrial revolution; commentary on science, nature and society; descriptions of key design principles; and compelling examples of innovative products and business strategies already reshaping the marketplace, McDonough and Braungart make the case that an industrial system that "takes, makes and wastes" can become a creator of goods and services that generate ecological, social and economic value. This means that the perfect balance is possible if we simply set us the goal that any human action should result in an output that could pe reused as nutrition.
Today I would like to finish with my clear conviction that we are on the right track to find the brake in order to stop our red Ferrari's ;) Good night.
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