If you just hold your cell phone for 30 seconds and think backwards through its production, you have the entire techno-industrial culture wrapped up there. You can't have that device without everything that goes with it.
Douglas TompkinsRead
Resource efficiency is the wrong metric. We should use nature as the measure, using nature's wisdom as a template for our economic systems.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of aligning economic systems with natural principles instead of merely focusing on resource efficiency.
Douglas Tompkins advocates for a fundamental shift in how we evaluate economic systems, suggesting that we should prioritize the wisdom found in nature rather than merely measuring efficiency in resource use. By using nature as a template, our systems can become more sustainable and harmonious with the environment, leading to a more responsible and thoughtful approach to economics.
Themes
NatureWisdomEconomicsSustainabilityEfficiency
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech on environmental policy, one might say, 'As Douglas Tompkins stated, resource efficiency is the wrong metric; we should look to nature for guidance.'
More from Douglas Tompkins
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The byproduct of the main thrust to protect the biodiversity of a given place is that you get especially young people out to the parks, because it will be future generations that will have to value these landscapes and these ecosystems and make sure that nobody is changing the law.
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It was one of those humid days when the atmosphere gets confused. Sitting on the porch, you could feel it: the air wishing it was water.
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