Introduction to Sustainability is the first major textbook to review major themes in the cutting-edge field of sustainability. The book is suitable for introductory interdisciplinary courses on sustainability, as well as those in the fields of geography, geology, sociology, planning, political science, and anthropology. Brinkmann’s book allows students to see the world in new ways while also encouraging them to become part of the change needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the planet. The text includes material on the development of the field of sustainability; environmental sustainability issues like water, food, and energy; social sustainability themes like environmental justice and transportation; and economic sustainability topics like green businesses and economic development. The book concludes with a chapter on sustainability issues in college and universities. Brinkmann intersperses many fascinating case studies and text boxes that encourage students to deeply explore the material. This is a book that not only organizes the complex field of sustainability, but also encourages students to take action to make the world a better place.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments, xv About the author, xvii
About the companion website, xix
1 Roots of the modern sustainability movement, 1
Meaning of sustainability, 1
Nineteenth century environmentalism, 2
Pinchot, Roosevelt, and Muir, 4
Aldo Leopold and the land ethic, 6
Better living through chemistry, the Great Smog of 1952, and Rachel Carson, 6
Environmental activism of the 1960s and 1970s and the development of environmental policy, 8
The growth of environmental laws in the 1960s and 1970s, 10
The first Earth Day, 11
International concerns, 11
Ozone and the world comes together, 12
Globalization and the Brundtland Report, 12
Deep ecology, 14
Environmental justice, 15
Measuring sustainability, 15
The road ahead, 17
Organization, 19
2 Understanding natural systems, 21
The Earth, its layers, and the rock cycle, 21
The rock cycle, 23
Biogeochemical cycles, 24
Water and the water cycle, 24
The carbon cycle and global climate change, 27
The sulfur cycle, 29
The nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, 31
Organisms and ecosystems, 33
Urban ecosystems, 35
Understanding the Anthropocene, 38
3 Measuring sustainability, 40
The United Nations Millennium Goals, 40
Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, 41
Goal 2. Achieve universal primary education, 42
Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower women, 42
Goal 4. Reduce child mortality rates, 42
Goal 5. Improve maternal health, 42
Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, 43
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability, 43
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development, 43
National sustainability planning, 45
Canada, 45
Bhutan, 48
Regional sustainability planning, 49
Local sustainability measurement, 51
Green local governments in Florida, 53
Specific community plans, 56
PlaNYC, 56
London and sustainability, 57
Small towns and sustainability, 59
Business sustainability, 60
Personal sustainability, 61
4 Energy, 63
World energy production and consumption, 63
Traditional or “dirty” energy resources, 65
Oil, 65
Oil shale and tar sands, 66
Natural gas, 67
Coal, 69
Green energy, 71
Biomass, 71
Wind energy, 74
Solar energy, 75
Nuclear energy, 76
Other innovations, 78
Energy efficiency, 78
Living off the grid, 80
5 Global climate change and greenhouse gas management, 81
The end of nature?, 81
The science of global climate change, 81
The greenhouse effect, 81
Sinks of carbon, 86
Forests, 86
Reefs, 86
The IPCC and evidence for climate change, and the future of our planet, 86
Ocean acidification, 88
Phenological changes, 88
Conducting greenhouse gas inventories, 89
Step 1 Setting boundaries, 89
Step 2 Defining scope, 90
Step 3 Choosing a quantitative approach, 91
Step 4 Setting a baseline year, 91
Step 5 Engaging stakeholders, 91
Step 6 Procuring certification, 91
Greenhouse gas equivalents used in greenhouse gas accounting, 92
Greenhouse gas emission scopes, 92
De minimis emissions, 92
Computing greenhouse gas credits, 93
Climate action plans, 93
Religion and climate change, 98
Evangelical Environmental Network, 98
Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, 98
Catholic Climate Covenant, 98
Jewish Climate Change Campaign, 99
The International Muslim Conference on Climate Change, 99
Buddhist Declaration on Climate Change, 100
Hindu Declaration on Climate Change, 100
Art, culture, and climate change, 100
Swoon, 100
Raúl Cárdenas Osuna and Toro Labs, 101
Isaac Cordal, 101
6 Water, 103
Sources of water, 103
Consumption trends, 106
Sources of water pollution, 108
Agricultural pollution, 108
Industrial pollution, 108
Storm water pollution, 109
Sewage, 109
Leaking underground tanks, 109
Landfills, 110
Water management and conservation, 112
National and regional water conservation and management, 112
Water supply management, 113
Water management and innovation, 115
Water quality, 115
Understanding drainage basins, 120
Drainage basins out of synch, 121
Drainage basin pollution, 121
Stream profile and base level, 121
Lakes, 121
Seas, 122
Oceans, 122
7 Food and agriculture, 124
Development of modern agriculture, 124
Meat production, 127
World agricultural statistics, 130
Food deserts and obesity, 130
Reactions to the high-tech agricultural movement, 133
Vegetarianism and veganism, 133
Organic farming, 133
Small farm movement, 134
Locavores, 135
Farm to table, 136
Community sponsored agriculture, 137
Community gardens, 138
Farmers markets, 139
Beekeeping, 140
The urban chicken movement, 141
Guerilla gardening, freegans, and other radical approaches to food, 141
8 Green building, 143
LEED rating systems, 143
Site selection, 145
Brownfield development, 145
Other aspects of sustainable building siting, 147
Water use, 147
Energy and atmospheric health, 148
Materials and resources, 150
Materials re-use, 150
Recycled content of construction material, 150
Locally derived materials, 151
Renewable materials and certified sustainable wood, 151
Waste management, 151
Summary, 151
Indoor environmental quality, 152
Ventilation and air delivery monitoring, 152
Construction indoor air quality management, 152
Use of low-emitting materials, 152
Indoor chemical and pollution source control, 153
Controllability and design of lighting and temperature systems, 153
Access to daylight, 153
Summary, 153
Innovation, 154
Regional priorities, 154
Expansion of green building technology, 154
Other green building rating systems, 154
BREEAM, 154
PassivHaus, 156
Green building policy, 157
Critiques of green building, 157
The greenest building and historic preservation, 158
Small house movement, 161
Further reading, 163
9 Transportation, 164
Transportation options, 164
Vehicles and roads, 164
Vehicles and fuels, 167
Rail, 169
Ship transport, 169
Air transport, 171
Space travel, 172
Roads, 174
Environmental issues with roads, 175
Mass transit, 178
Forms of mass transit, 178
Transit hubs and transit oriented development, 180
The future, 181
10 Pollution and waste, 184
Pollution, 184
Chemical pollution, 184
Heat pollution, 187
Light pollution, 187
Noise pollution, 188
Visual pollution, 188
Littering, 189
Understanding pollution distribution, 189
The US approach to pollution, 191
Clean Air Act, 191
Clean Water Act, 192
National Environmental Policy Act, 193
Superfund, 194
Sewage treatment, 195
Sewage and sustainability, 196
Garbage and recycling, 197
Garbage composition, 197
Managing garbage, 198
Reducing waste, 199
Composting, 200
Recycling, 200
11 Environmental justice, 204
Social justice, 204
Civil rights and the modern environmental movement in the United States, 206
Lead pollution and the growth of the urban environmental justice movement, 207
Environmental racism in the United States, 209
Brownfields, community re-development, and environmental justice, 210
US EPA and environmental justice, 212
Native Americans and environmental justice, 213
Exporting environmental problems, 214
Environmental justice around the world, 214
Environmental justice in Europe, 214
Environmental justice in Asia and the Pacific, 215
Environmental justice in Africa, 217
Environmental justice in Latin America and the Caribbean: oil pollution in Ecuador, 219
Environmental justice in a Globalized World, 219
12 Sustainability planning and governance, 223
Local governments and their structure, 223
The role of citizens and stakeholders in local government, 223
Community stakeholders, 224
Boundaries and types of local governments, 225
Leadership, 226
Efforts to aid local governments on sustainability issues, 227
Scale and local governments, 229
Green regional development, 229
Sustainable development, 232
Globalization, 233
Development of globalization, 233
Drivers of globalization, 234
War and sustainability, 241
Further reading, 244
13 Sustainability, economics, and the global commons, 245
The global commons, 245
Economic processes that put the Earth out of balance, 245
Social and economic theories, 246
Neoclassical economics, 247
Environmental economics, 249
Green economics, 250
Non-capitalistic economies, 250
Deep ecology, 250
Ecofeminism, 252
Destruction regardless of theory, 252
Environmental economics: externalities, 253
Measuring the economy, 253
Green jobs, 256
Cost–benefit analysis and its application in environmental economics, 262
Environmental impact assessment, 263
Environmental ethics, 263
14 Corporate and organizational sustainability management, 266
Cognitive dissonance, 266
Why are businesses concerned with sustainability?, 266
Profit, 266
Public relations, 266
Altruism, 267
Concern over the long-term sustainability of the industry, 267
Professional standards and norms, 268
Total quality management and sustainability, 268
People, planet, and profits, 268
Ray Anderson, the father of the green corporation and the growth of green corporate environmentalism, 270
Anderson’s legacy, 272
Greenwashing in the corporate world, 272
Green consumers, 272
Global Reporting Initiative, 273
Sustainability reporting in the S & P 500, 275
Dow Jones Sustainability Index, 275
Sustainability reporting, 277
International Organization for Standardization (ISO): ISO 14000 and ISO 26000, 277
ISO 14000, 277
ISO 26000, 277
Case studies of sustainability at the corporate level, 278
Wal-Mart, 279
Unilever, 281
Lessons from Wal-Mart and Unilever, 282
Can businesses with unsustainable products be sustainable?, 283
15 Sustainability at universities, colleges, and schools, 286
Curriculum at colleges and universities, 286
Sustainability curriculum at K-12 schools, 288
External benchmarking, 289
American Association for Sustainability in Higher Education, 289
American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, 290
Other external benchmarking organizations, 292
Internal initiatives, 293
Sustainability officers, 294
Sustainability committees, 294
Food service, 295
Student and faculty activism, 296
Index, 307
About the Author :
Robert (Bob) Brinkmann is the Director of Sustainability Studies in the Department of Geology, Environment, and Sustainability at Hofstra University and is the author of many books and research articles. Bob has served as an officer in many organizations and is currently Chair of the Board of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute.
