About Triple Bottom Line: In 2007, Asiatic Public Relations Network (Pvt.) Ltd., or APR, a leading communications and public relations agency in Pakistan, decided to launch a bold initiative to create a more entrenched sustainability culture in the country, with the Vision “To steadily facilitate the germination of sustainable visions for organizational growth, sharing specific triple bottom-line knowledge and tools.” Triple Bottom-Line was launched in January 2008 as Pakistan’s first and only knowledge-based, CSR-focused publication. Supported by 2 leading national companies, English Biscuit Manufacturers Pvt. Ltd. (EBM) and National Foods Limited (NFL), the bi-monthly TBL was sent complimentary to a researched list of decision-makers and opinion-formers in the corporate sector, the government, media, academia, NGOs sector and international institutions active in Pakistan.

About The Global Conversation: On October 1, 2012, The Global Conversation began publication of one of the very first places on the Internet where world events and personal lives can be explored on a regular basis within the specific context of The New Spirituality.

About New Renaissance Magazine: New Renaissance is a quarterly magazine serving as a forum for progressive discussion on the future of society. Since 1990, it has been bringing a holistic perspective to the economic, environmental, political, social, spiritual and cultural concerns of today.

As its name implies, New Renaissance, hopes to inspire a creative burst of energy which will help humanity surmount its present global crisis. New Renaissance thus highlights the writings of people with a positive approach towards contemporary problems.

In an age of increasing economic disparity New Renaissance promotes ideas and programmes which will lead to a decentralised, cooperative and democratic economic system, and advocates a new humanism in which our concern is expanded to include all living beings.

Science and the arts are presented from the perspective of restoring them to their benevolent roles of serving true human needs.

Regular departments in the journal cover the environment, economics, philosophy, animal rights, human rights, health, science, spirituality and the arts, making New Renaissance a comprehensive source of alternative news and commentary.

Contributors to past issues have included: David Korten, Johan Galtung, Hazel Henderson, Riane Eisler, Jean Houston, Suzi Gablik, Peter Russell and P.R. Sarkar.

Elizabeth begins the Q&A with the following introduction, “For those who work in the environment or sustainability field,  recycling, water conservation and systemic thinking are probably concepts that follow you home at the end of the night. According to Mark Coleman, author of “The Sustainability Generation: The Politics of Change and Why Personal Accountability is Essential NOW”, it’s time to recruit new members to the club.

Achieving sustainability will involve more than just government regulations and green products, says Mr. Coleman, who is also the Senior Program Manager at the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology. It will require personal commitments and community collaboration. We spoke with him this week to learn more about his new book and to understand how small actions by engaged individuals could add up to one big change.”

The National Association for Environmental Management (NAEM) is a professional association that empowers corporate  leaders to advance environmental stewardship, create safe and healthy  workplaces, and promote global sustainability. We provide peer-led educational  conferences, benchmarking research and an active community for sharing solutions  to today’s corporate EHS and sustainability management challenges.

Fahrenheit 451 presents a future American society where books are outlawed and firemen burn any house that contains them.  People are becoming addicted to media, and often watch an interactive soap opera on “parlor walls” that consist of three enormous, floor-to-ceiling television screens.  Bradbury said that his novel is not about censorship, but a story about how television destroys interest in reading literature, which leads to a perception of knowledge as being composed of “factoids,” partial information devoid of context.

Sustainability: Buzz or Bust?

It seems nothing in life of consequence is lost or gained without some level of debate. Of late, I have read and heard more and more people drawing into question whether “sustainability” is a buzzword. In full disclosure, my first book, “The Sustainability Generation: The Politics of Change and Why Personal Accountability is Essential NOW!” was just published. And, given the title, you may believe I already have a predetermined point-of-view on the answer to the question: Is Sustainability a “Buzz” word? I do, but my take on the meaning, value, and use of the word might not be what you think.

There is no doubt that “sustainability” is used in our vernacular more freely than ever. Politicians, entertainers, CEO’s, academic and research elite, and a myriad of other business, community, and government leaders now use the word “sustainability” in their daily deliberations. So do average citizens and consumers. I frequently hear shoppers at grocery stores, people pumping gas, and others in public increasingly asking more informed questions related to sustainability. Our “24-7” news cycle and integration of social media into our personal daily lives has magnified the visibility of the word “sustainability”. My iPhone buzzes each day with Tweets and emails with the world “sustainability” used in a variety of contexts. But is it a buzzword?

A reality check with Google tells us that searching the word sustainability results in “approximately 125 million” results, in 0.18 seconds. But that indicator is the tip of the iceberg. The word, concept, and practice of sustainability have been around for decades, if not hundreds of years. Formal debate on sustainability tied to the earth’s capacity to meet our needs for food, clothing, shelter, and abundant “life essential” resources began in the 1980s. However, civilizations long before our current generation also wrestled with their impact on the environment, and how they chose to live a life of purpose and balance.

Public-and-private universities, including the Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) have created new academic and research programs dedicated to educating, training, and developing the next generation of business, government, and entrepreneurial leaders focused on creating a more balanced and sustainable world. Small and large businesses and corporations with brands as global as Coca-Cola and Nike and as local and regional as Wegman’s Food Stores are embracing elements of sustainability into their corporate culture, policies, products, processes and people. And, countries around the world including Ghana, Ireland, Japan and Brazil are taking stock of their impacts and programs related to the role of government in defining and taking action on sustainability. As author and journalist Thomas Friedman astutely pointed out, the world has now become “hot, flat, and crowded”, necessitating the current generation to re-look at how it lives, works, and plays. In this new world, “sustainability” is not a buzzword in the mind’s eye of business, government, and university leaders. Rather it is the word by which positive and necessary change hinge upon, and by which the strategic direction of businesses and nations, are being built.

The notion of a buzzword carries with it a negative connotation that the word is indicative of a fad or something that is fashionable for the moment. And there are aspects to “sustainability” that meet that perception. Recent attention on the “greening” of products and lifestyles is an example. Celebrities, politicians, and others tout their use of hybrid-electric or electric vehicles as “sustainability”, yet addressing personal mobility is but one aspect of a sustainable lifestyle. Mass media and businesses have in recent years generated a lot of “buzz” on the idea that “going green” through the consumption of “greener” products is sustainable. Well, it is and it isn’t. Mass consumption of more goods and services that are “green” still create waste, hazards, inefficiencies, and consume energy. It is logical and appropriate that consumers would want, and feel good, about consuming products that have less of an environmental footprint. But while some “green” products do eliminate waste, reduce energy, and use more environmentally benign materials, they are not, when consumed in mass quantity, always “sustainable”.

The Convergence of Challenge and Change Shaping the “S” Word

With 7 billion people occupying earth and growing, more demands are being placed on earth’s natural resources. This generation is witnessing a convergence of social, economic, energy and environmental challenges that is simply unprecedented. The convergence brings great uncertainty and a sense of “issues overload” and overwhelming odds for many. It is far simpler to throw one’s hands up in defeat, or disregard “sustainability” as a buzzword than it is to accept the challenges and face up to the fact that we have serious issues which require an entirely new framework by which we should occupy the world, letalone Wall Street, if we are to earn the right to live well on the planet.

To address the constraints and challenges of our time it is equally critical for our generation to develop more “green” products and policies as it is for us to find altogether new ways to conserve, protect, and consume fewer natural resources. Sustainability then is not just about consuming more “green products” to save a buck or reduce a kWh or electricity. The use of “green” products is but one dimension of a broader, much deeper and lasting virtue of social accountability that is needed in all facets of society, and which empowers citizens to ask “what is my personal, and this generation’s responsibility, as conscious citizens and consumers, to address our needs and aspirations for today, and for future generations?”

Perhaps some people simply do not care about their collective impact on future generations. I have had many personal conversations with others that say “why should I care?”, “who is doing anything for me?” Those kinds of responses are very reasonable sentiments and perspectives considering that the basic life needs of billions of people remain unmet each day around the world. Addressing extreme poverty, providing access to potable water, building suitable shelter, feeding the hungry, and providing basic education and healthcare represent a sample of the global challenges at home and abroad. It can be personally overwhelming and simply illogical to have to account for the needs of future generations when we cannot get things right for ourselves in the present moment. But there is more to the equation of life than simply our own sense of entitlement and selfishness.

Are We a Fashionably Unsustainable Generation?

The basic tenants of life require clean water, food, and the freedom to grow and flourish. When these tenants are constrained, we all suffer. With so much focus on the economic crisis, we often forget what the fundamental building blocks of the modern economy are. Yes, the backbone of our financial management systems are “ones and zeros” of data stored in high efficiency data centers and server farms. But the materials, energy, and resources that are mined and processed to provide us with state-of-the-art electronics, energy systems, telecommunication networks, healthcare products, entertainment, and so on come from the myriad of rare and abundant resources of the earth.

Today, lifestyles have become “fashionable” whereas in the past fashion was an allure to model, a higher-end luxury, but not an everyday necessity to have. As we consume more “stuff” to remain in fashion with the fad of the day, our upstream impacts on natural resources intensify. Coupled with enormous population growth and new pressures from emerging economies like China, India, Latin America, and elsewhere, the earth’s global ecosystems (Rainforests, Coral Reefs, Wetlands, Arctic Biota) and banks of natural resource reserves (oil, gas, metals, ores, materials, water) are squeezed more and more. The net result: we don’t fully know yet. But if we don’t connect the dots in our lifestyles related to our impact on the natural world, a financial crisis won’t crush us, a sustainability crisis will.

In a democratic society no one wants to be told what to do. I cannot disagree with that. However, no one citizen, political, or business leader can address all of our competing needs or solve our interrelated sustainability challenges. A more balanced and sustainable future can only be achieved if “you, me, and WE” work together in an equation where an engaged and accountable citizenry equates to better choices and better living. In this model we should recognize that (1) sustainability cannot be mandated, dictated, or legislated, and (2) it is possible that sustainability will never truly be achieved.

Getting to “WE” – Defining your Stake in the Sustainability Generation

Sustainability has to be defined, embraced, and enacted by everyday citizens and consumers if it is to have a shot at capturing the mind and spirit of this generation, and being a value that transcends time and place to have long term impact. Because sustainability is tied to our “life context”, to our needs as individuals, and as a generation at a specific moment in time, we will always be readjusting, tweaking, and refining our behaviors, values, and intended goals and outcomes. Thus, sustainability is something that we will continuously strive for with the best knowledge, data, and information we have at hand. We will make mistakes. And we may even fall back a few steps. But, if we remain committed to enveloping critical thinking and accountability into our daily lives regarding our fate and future, and as a symbiotic relationship with each other and the earth, then we will be moving in the right direction.

A buzzword does not have to carry with it a negative connotation. Something that is“buzzworthy” can be more than a fad and fashionable. “Sustainability” might just be the evolution of a higher purpose for people playing out in real time across society. Even if you are sick of hearing the word “sustainability” there is something to its allure. The word evokes debate, critical thinking, and personal reflection within individuals’ attempts to realize a better lifestyle and for society at-large and as a generation attempting to finds its foothold amid financial turmoil and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.

Regardless whether you believe in certain “green” virtues others have placed on the word “sustainability”, it should be important to discover for yourself the role you will play as a conscious citizen and consumer and as a positive contributor to society, in creating and leaving a legacy which you can be proud of. What does that look like for you? And what role will you choose to play throughout your life? Living life with a strong sense of purpose, passion, self discovery, happiness, and accountability are the building blocks to your personal sustainability.

Death and Taxes

In his 1789 letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, a prominent French scientist, Benjamin Franklin wrote, “the only two certainties in life are death and taxes.” This famous quote has been recycled many times over the years, including by author Mark Twain. There are also earlier references to the phrase dating to Edward Ward’s 1724 work, “Dancing Devils” where he wrote “Death and Taxes, they are certain”, and the 1716 quote “’Tis impossible to be sure of anything but Death and Taxes” written by Christopher Bullock in his 1716 work “Cobler of Preston”.

It is approximately two and a quarter centuries later and there remains much merit to “death and taxes” being the only certainties in life. Even so, while we may have to accept “death and taxes”, they are not by any means the measures by which a life is ultimately weighed or valued. How we choose to spend our time, and the value we bring to this world, are far richer than the taxes we pay, and more determinant to what life is about than death.

A third peg to the certainties of life is personal accountability: how one chooses to expend their time in recognition that the miracle of life is, in itself, a gift to be cherished, enjoyed, and celebrated as much as it is a medium for providing economic utility. To live with a sense of purpose, passion, and balance are the elements of what it means to be accountable to ourselves, and to this generation.

Busyness and Idleness are this Generation’s “Death and Taxes”

Much has been written on humans’ preoccupation to bide time through busyness and idleness. Humans are, at face value, a productive species. We invent, build, maintain, destroy, recreate, and rebuild again in an endless cycle of self discovery and improvement. We are never satisfied. As relentless thinkers and endless tinkerers we like to occupy our time so that we feel useful. But living a life of “usefulness” is open to interpretation. Too often, our “24-7″ fast paced busy world consumes our conscious and we forget that we are human. In our hungered draw for attention, we can lose sense with the enormous potential for creativity, innovation, and self-fulfillment that we have.  Yet much of the time we spend here on earth goes against our capacity to be great. We tend to focus on the mundane and minutia of decisions that matter too many, but also cloud this generation’s full potential to create a more sustainable world.

Two hundred years ago, picking up a hammer and nail to build a community center was deemed a very useful endeavor. Today, this would be equally as useful, particularly as many communities suffer from the loss of local assets and infrastructure that provide sense of community, an unfortunate loss for many of our rural places. Today we are more likely to see a packed coffee house as the new center of a community. But, our hammers are iPhones and Blackberry’s, and our nails are our worn down nubs that type bits and bytes of data as quickly as possible to build our virtual houses of information on Facebook, personal webpage’s, and other online repositories of “our life”. While we may feel like a community in our new-age community center, the outcome for many is only a scrapbook of photos and messages mirroring the busyness, idleness, and usefulness of life.

Humans are our own best and worst enemies.  We built Rome, and we destroyed Rome. We learned how to fly, flew around the world, and then far into space. We are always striving for more, better, faster, bigger, greater returns, more progress, higher yields, and quicker service. If inventing the wheel in 3500 BC wasn’t enough, then we had to find more ways to have the wheel do work. If that were not enough, then we had to find a way to have several wheels connect to a trailer and pulled by a horse for the transport of goods. Horses turned out to be too slow, and they smelled! So inventing an engine to give us more horse power was more useful. In time, engines became too dirty and smelly as too many of them infiltrated more usefulness to the world. So, as busy as beavers we are, we invented a hybrid electric powertrain to make our usefulness less wasteful and more efficient. Humans like to keep busy, and useful is better than busy. But being useful all of the time is not always possible. So we make sure we are busy, even if to only appear useful. And the cycle goes on and on.

Busyness is an Occupation

As humans, we are uncomfortable in our own skin. Lions don’t seem as uncomfortable as we do (maybe it is because they know they might have the upper claw on us in a close room). After a kill, lions will shade themselves, nap, and play until their hunger grows within them again. For humans, it seems that our hunger never goes away. Taking a naps, idle resting, and play – those endeavors which take away from busyness, let alone usefulness.

There are those moments, for example, when the day of work is complete, and we finally have time to occupy ourselves with what really matters in life: family, friends, connecting in our communities, or getting in touch with our spirituality. But in these moments, many of us choose more “busyness” as the preferred outlet for our time. After two hundred years we have fully bought into the notion that life is mostly about death and taxes and our hunger for “more” and “better” is never quenched. Why else would we spend so much time worrying about money and keeping busy? Busyness is simply a way to keep our mind from wandering too far out of bounds so that our true spirit and conscious don’t question who we are, why we are here, and what we want to really accomplish in a life well spent. And money, well that is just a medium to keep our minds and bodies fixated on those tasks measured by society that keep us busy and useful.

So what really is “more”, “better”, and “value”? And, what is our purpose for being human? Is our purpose for being humans only to build-up, and then tear down? Or are we here only to feed the chitter-chatter of social media or the “24-7″ news cycle? Do we Occupy Wall Street or occupy our own self-interest and individual accountability to address what it means to be alive here and now? What we stand for, and how we live a life with determination and conviction toward realizing our full potential as individuals dedicated to making the world a better place are the calling cards for this generation.

It is far easier in any occupation, including the grandest occupation of all, “life”, to be a member of the chitter-chatter noisemakers that like to point fingers and drive attention, but are short on solutions and collaboration. This is why busy people stay busy. If you are busy, you rarely draw attention. When you step aside from the societal norm of being busy, and draw attention to the issues at hand (a need for this generation to be accountable to ourselves and to future generations), well then you get noisemakers reeling you back into their version of the debate which has to have a protagonist and antagonist to cloud the real issue. Without confrontation there is no issue to debate, to entertain the masses with, and ultimately profit from. In this way, “busyness” sells and makes money, so why not keep the busy minded busy.

Becoming Accountable to Living Life with Purpose, Passion, and Balance

If death and taxes are our measures of life’s certainties, well then, that is just sad. Accountability to living a life well spent should be front and center as we go forward as consumers and citizens who can have profound impact on our individual quality of life, and the sustainability of the world around us. Two days ago I was driving to work, keeping myself busy and useful. The car to the right of me caught my attention. It was a hearse. There was not a funeral procession, and I don’t know if the hearse was carrying anyone deceased or not. But as I drove alongside the a very visible metaphor of death I thought how hearses represent the final BTU’s of energy and last greenhouse gases people will have as an impact our atmosphere, and as they take their final ride before resting. This is unless people choose to be cremated, and then they might have an additional air emissions impact.

This is a morbid and silly thought indeed. But as the hearse turned right and I drove forward the thought seemed right. Our impact on the world begins well before we are born, and endures long after we are gone. It is our responsibility to be accountable to our choices, decisions, and behaviors while we are alive and conscious. We will have a long time to be busy and idle the 9 months leading to birth, and in the years following our death. What we have in-between is a gift like no other. And what we make of it is up to each of us individually. Being accountable is being alive. Death and taxes are the measures of a society determined to be only busy. Let’s choose to make the most of life.

Far more usefulness can occur (and quality of life, profitability, and sustainability) when people are accountable to their individual behaviors than when we continually shift our faults, hopes and dreams, and false promises onto the shoulders of future generations. Today, there are far too many challenges for this generation to address, compounded by decades of entitled behavior across all members of society, for us not to become more accountable citizens and consumers. There is no need to place blame for our woes. The challenges of this generation now runs deeper than any one individual, politician, corporate executive, or government agency.

If a fiscal cliff does not crush this generation, a sustainability cliff will. To address the fiscal cliff we need to take a long hard look at ourselves and choose our destiny, as individuals that can be accountable to our own behaviors, lifestyles, and needs.  By being accountable to who we are, what we need, and how we intend to live a life with purpose, passion, and impact, we can begin to self realize what it means to be sustainable in our daily lives, and with a little hope, for this entire generation.

Presidential Power vs. Power by the People

I don’t know who originally said this, but it is true. “If there is one constant in life, it is that change is inevitable, and always happening”. Change happens, and it is uncomfortable. But, change can be good. The politics of change is both uncomfortable (for some), and ultimately good (for many). The politics of change involves all of us, as citizens and consumers, in a self-aware approach to realizing a better future for ourselves, our families, and our country.

Why is it that “we the people” seemingly let so much of our destiny ride on the power and influence of the Presidency? Does one man or woman really have the power to make our life more or less “better”? I think they do, but it is important not to forget that ultimately, individuals are the stewards of their own lives. And, placing too much emphasis on any one person or elected office to improve our lot in life is akin to the odds of winning the lottery.

To realize the full potential of being an American, we have to be responsible and accountable to our individual “life context”, how we choose to live our life, and the impact we ultimately have on our local communities, and the world at-large.

In the case of American politics and the Presidency, it is as if voters want to reserve the right to have a default fall guy (or woman) to take the blame if things go wrong in our life. In some ways, the American Presidency allows us to be unaccountable to our own individual freedom and fate. The freedom to flourish or freedom to fail in our individual life is the democratic gift American’s have as citizens of this country. It is equally important for us to serve our role as conscious citizens (and consumers), as much as it is for us to put our undivided faith in our Commander in Chief.

President Obama won The White House in 2008 on a ticket of hope, change, and promise. At that time, and at the heels of the two-term Bush Presidency, Americans needed to hear and believe in those carefully selected words, and which President Obama skillfully articulated throughout the campaign. Fast forward four years and many things have changed, yet much remains the same. What is most frustrating to me is not the Obama Administration’s under delivery of hope, change, and a promise for a better future; but the continued pursuit of power through petty politicking, and by people no more prepared to deliver on a promising future than you or I. This is of course politics, and may never change.

The silly season is in full effect as the 2012 Presidential election nears. The finger pointing, negative campaigns, and “he said, she said” reasoning are being played out as overstated and underperforming politicians try to convince us who is right, what we should believe, and who we should cast our vote for. The game has become ruthless and senseless. It is less about the “people” who are the fabric of this country and mostly about “winning” another term for a select few. In this process I have yet to see where the 99% every really win.

Who gets short-changed in the American political process however, are the very constituents that enable it to be played in the first place: “we the people”. I don’t believe our democratic process is broken. I do believe however that the new metric for electing politicians into power should be a measure (and proven track record) of their willingness, capacity, and performance to collaborate and bring people together on common sense solutions impacting this generation. We can no longer afford to delay tough discussions and decisions, or defray our cost of doing business onto our children and grandchildren. If this generation continues to disregard the need for reasonable solutions and collaborative action now, a fiscal cliff may be the least of our worries. We must work together to fix the problems which anchor our past and present, and hinder this and the next generation’s freedom to flourish into the future.

Do we place too much emphasis on what we believe a President can do for us, individually, as opposed to making a conscientious effort to take action and change in our own life? Americans expect a lot from their President. But, the power of the Presidency only goes so far. While we seek it in our candidates, and expect it from our elected chief executive, we may only really see true leadership in the Office of the President once, maybe twice, in a lifetime. This may sound cynical and unfortunate, but there is truth to this. The performance and outcomes for some Presidential administrations (and other elected offices at the local, state and federal levels) can be chalked up to egos with agendas that look a lot like power and leadership, but fall shy of delivering substance, direction, passion, and change. America’s democratic process and our generation’s focus on political change, has become too focused on the power of the Presidency in the past decade. There are a myriad of reasons for this ranging from global terrorism and wars, to our own at-home sense of entitlement and ambivalence that has been part of our collective past as a nation.

The ability for the President to lead, bring opposing views together toward action, and be transparent and to be accountable to the Office of the Presidency might be the most essential expectations we should have of a President. While campaign advertising and maneuvering would have us believe differently, Presidents cannot directly create jobs, heal the sick, create new industries, or drive innovation. These are outcomes of policies, incentives, regulations, and other instruments of government which are directly influenced by a President who leads, but ultimately decided and acted upon by members of Congress and the core team the President puts in place. President’s can however lead, inspire, empower and enlist, and, through their daily behaviors and actions, set an example of accountability and action for a nation.

Accountability Runs Deeper than the Power of a President

Today, every politician, not only the President, needs to be accountable to the American people. There is nothing more ridiculous than hearing senior Senators or freshmen Congressmen suggest they have the best (fiscal, energy, education, healthcare, etc.) plan for America’s future, and that the other side of the isle is to blame for all of our woes. Too often we hear political elite telling us that the sitting President has overpromised, under delivered, and over welcomed his stay in The White House. “We the People” need to help our Senator and Congressional elects check their egos and remind them who put them in power in the first place. Their sense of entitlement to the position of power in which we entitled them to have is often taken too far by many.

Somewhere between the pageantry of getting elected and “serving the people” many politicians seem to become misguided on what their job really is. They get elected on the perception that they have the leadership and communication skills to support the needs of their constituents. Yet, on a daily basis many politicians demonstrate that they only like to play well in a sandbox, with a fence around it, with their own predefined rules, and only among like minded friends. As easier as it would be to live life this way, it is not the reality of the world we live in. The world is no longer simple, if it ever was. And so, we need politicians with purpose and passion, but also the good conscience and capacity to bring people together and collaborate toward positive change, not negative one-sided political bullying that serves no one any good, let alone the future of America or our children.

We the People have the Power to Influence Positive, Sustainable Change

Every generation has its challenges and opportunities. And, our generation is no different. What is concerning is the sense of “issues overload” that we now feel and inherently know we have to deal with. This generation is witnessing a convergence of social, economic, and environmental challenges that is simply unprecedented. The fiscal cliff, global terrorism, state of the economy, domestic energy policy, global environmental challenges and natural resource constraints, socio-economic imbalance and challenges, fighting disease, addressing a broken education system, and other issues have intensified in recent years. What exacerbates the issues of the day is the fact that 7 billion people now occupy earth and are competing for clean air, clean water, food and natural resources to sustain themselves, let alone grow their economies and make provisions for future generations. This generation, and the next administration in The White House, will need to recalibrate and reprioritize what is important to “we the people” if we are to maintain our freedom to flourish.

But this is not a one-sided responsibility for politicians alone. “We the people” have to become more self-aware, pragmatic and realistic to what our needs really are. We must look inward to our individual lifestyle and behavior, and be prepared to take bold action (even if that means concessions) toward creating a better future. This does not have to mean our quality of life deteriorates, or that we somehow “lose”. As citizens and consumers, we have the power through the democratic process to cast our vote in politicians and in products, toward influencing a better world. But our responsibility does not end with our vote or purchase. As politicians take office, and as new products hit store shelves, we need to continuously be the stewards of our own life and destiny, and keep politicians and corporations responsible and accountable to the demanding needs of this generation.

For this generation to move forward, we must also look beyond our political and corporate elite and expect great things from ourselves and from everyday citizens in our communities. In doing so, we need to recapture what it means to hold ourselves and others accountable as we collectively address the challenges of the day, and realize the full potential of opportunities this generation can have toward creating a more balanced and sustainable world.

Positions of power will always be magnets for positive and negative attention. Those that seek power positions either already understand, or will learn that. But there is a common denominator in the equation of power that makes the quotient positive or negative: “we the people”. Let’s not forget the power each of us has as individual consumers and citizens, and the responsibilities associated with this power, to be a part of a process that entitles us to continue to have the freedom to flourish or freedom to fail in this increasingly dynamic world.

Greg’s blog summarizes the essence of “The Sustainability Generation” when he states, “Coleman claims social uprisings around the world, from the Arab Spring to the Occupy Wall Street Movement, illustrate a growing public sense that old solutions are not working today. While society can’t yet articulate the reasons, Coleman sees today’s simultaneous economic, environmental and political crises deriving from a single root cause: unsustainable behavior manifested in a sense of entitlement and a disconnection between our choices and their systemic impacts. Perhaps the sustainability generation’s biggest challenge is that it requires a new type of leader. Coleman’s ideal is a systems thinker comfortable with ambiguity — someone who sees problem solving as a process of constant learning and knowledge sharing with humility, honesty and compassion for others. Perhaps most difficult is a belief in personal accountability for self and others, a character trait Coleman finds lacking in today’s “blame the other side” political discourse.”

I’m honored by Greg’s blog, not just for his accuracy on what the book is about, but because he exemplifies the type of leader influencing The Sustainability Generation. Gregory C. Unruh, Ph.D., is the professor of global business and director of the Lincoln Center for Ethics in Global Management at Thunderbird School of Global Management. Greg is an expert on the role of technological innovation in addressing the challenges of global sustainability. Greg has been a regular and longtime contributor to the Huffington Post.

For more information about Greg Unruh available from Huffington Post Click Here, and also see more about his impressive career and biography available fro Thunderbird School of Global Management.

In the past decade and in the past couple of years in particular, society has become unbalanced. Social change and uprising was prevalent in 2011 and 2012 with events like the Arab Spring, London Riots, and Occupy movements taking on greater emphasis here in the U.S. These movements are a result and reflection of many things, but a common thread is this generation’s inability to meet many of the mounting and basic needs essential to life. Like no other time in history there is a convergence of economic, social, and environmental challenges that we reawake to in the morning, and try to drown out as go to bed to in the evening. There are no simple solutions to our collective challenges.

While we focus in the U.S. primarily on the economy, other challenges run much deeper throughout the rest of the world. For example, natural resource damages, access to clean water, maintaining a reliable power grid and communications network, and feeding and housing the poor are front-and-center challenges which occupy the frontal lobe of people of other nations.

If a fiscal crisis does not crush us, a “sustainability crisis” will. Today, sustainability is about taking a conscious action toward delivering value to society, while addressing the trade-offs and concessions we might need to make, and in meeting the diversity of needs this global generation has in an equitable and balanced way.

Too often we place the blame and point the finger of our woes at corporations and government. There is no doubt business and government has to play a clear leadership role in addressing our sustainability challenges. But we must also be accountable, in our daily lives, to the changes happening around us. As citizens and consumers we have incredible power to impact a better lifestyle for ourselves, our families, and for future generations. Through your voting and purchasing power you can make decisions that impact the politics and products that directly impact your lifestyle.

The challenge for this generation is to transition our society from a sense of entitlement to an action oriented empowered and enlightened generation. In the process we will realize a better quality of life for ourselves, our children and grandchildren. The common denominator to a more or less sustainable world is “People”. Together we have the capacity, intellect, and potential to do great things. Given the challenges before us, now is the time to set aside petty politics and any sense of entitlement or indifference and come together to own who we are, what we are, and what we will be. Our time on this planet is limited. Each day is a gift and your life is a gift. This book was written to help individuals realize they are the most critical part of the sustainability equation.

We can use this opportunity and time in history to learn and leverage its past, redefine its present, and positively impact its future. In this equation, sustainability cannot be mandated, regulated, or legislated. If it is, it will likely fail as not every consumer or citizen has the same perception or definition of what is sustainable. The onerous to figure out “what is of value” to society should not just be on business or government. As citizens and consumers, we need to help others understand what is important to us, what brings us value, and what we envision as “quality of life” measures, and ultimately success.

Our lifestyle should not be defined by the products we buy or the policies that influence our behaviors. Rather, we should be accountable to our behaviors and live a self-directed life that keeps us, as individuals, in charge of our freedom and fate. In this way, we can remain the most viable force in fulfilling a life with a sense of balance, purpose, and passion. And in doing so, government and business can be more fully aware of our diverse needs, and play an even more valuable role in this integrated system of sustainability.

The solution for change and sustainability resides not only in our needs from government and business, but also as an ethic, code of conduct, and accountability which we should all live by, as consumers and citizens. As companies and governments strive for greater transparency and accountability programs we should support them with critical thinking, healthy debate, and clear communications. This generation requires commitment by, and responsibility of business, but also direct action by committed citizens and consumers willing to work as a cohesive “Sustainability Generation”.

The measure of success for this generation will be not in our ability to wage wars, land on the moon, or develop all of the earth’s natural resources. The mark of the Sustainability Generation will be in our ability to rise above negative campaigning and wasted time and energies and work together toward common solutions that address the most pressing challenges of our time, while enabling us to realize our full potential as global citizens.

Thank you again for your interest. I look forward to working with you as we discover and define our role as The Sustainability Generation!

Sincerely,