Is the need for sustainability a recent phenomenon?
We are not the first of societies to be caught in the downfall of our own economic and ecological spending. When the first foreigners reached the shores of Easter Island, the locals were engaged in great battles over the control of the last of the natural resources. Deforestation of the land had led to soil erosion and poor agriculture. It was their belief that construction of the iconic and famous large statues would appease the Gods and correct the situation. However, this practice inevitably used more resources and worsened the situation. Moreover, the fate of these threatened people was sealed upon the arrival of foreign ships. Although the struggle between man and his environment is not a new one, our struggle today is of a different scale: global, rather than local and is a result of the ideals we associate with Western civilization, such as industrial growth and globalization. Over the last few decades we have started to identify some of the challenges that face us, such as gree
