The triple bottom line provides an illusion of change — John Elkington coined the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) in 1994. The TBL is a “sustainability framework that examines a company’s social, environmental, and economic impact.” …

Nothing is valued unless it can make money — Every decade of the twentieth century was defined by a distinctive sound. Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry in the 1950s. The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s. Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd in the 1970s. Queen and Michael Jackson in the 1980s. Nirvana and Notorious B.I.G. …

America represents individual freedoms, not control — The freedom of the individual underpins what it means to be American. It’s the land of the free, where each person enjoys the freedom of speech, freedom of representation, and freedom of expression. These freedoms are cornerstones of American ideology. …

Economic incentives reward environmentally destructive behaviour — The mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, recently posted a tweet comparing the cost of a return journey from Manchester, UK, to various destinations. Burnham found return flights from Jamaica* (a 9180-mile round trip) for £343. From Ivory Coast* (a 9660-mile roundtrip) for £319, and a trip from Brazil* (a 10,112-mile…

Consumerism is eating the world alive — They live in million-dollar mansions, drive sports cars, and wear diamond-encrusted watches. They fly around the world in private jets, relax in lavish hotels, and only eat at the finest restaurants. The rich and famous live in the materialistic land of plenty, a fairy tale world everyone is desperate to…

Automation has always been something to fear, but it should be something to celebrate — During the nineteenth century, the Luddites, a radical group of textile workers, did all they could to destroy textile machines set to replace them. The Luddite’s fears and their reaction to the machines were well-founded. They were losing their identity, a way of life, but most importantly, they were losing…

Consultancies are great at helping companies provide an illusion they’re becoming more sustainable — “It’s now or never.” The IPCC’s latest report provides yet another damning warning; emissions must start to decrease dramatically by 2025 to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Factor in other impacts like human behaviour destroying biodiversity and triggering the sixth mass extinction event, or that the Amazon…

Tipping is nothing more than a subsidy that allows restaurants to pay low wages — “I don’t tip because society says I have to.” So starts the “I don’t tip” scene of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, where a group of murderous gangsters have a philosophical debate about tipping over breakfast. The gangsters are outraged by Mr Pinks’s bold confession that he refuses to tip. Mr…

Capitalism is eating itself alive, but to survive, everyone must help it do so — The capitalist cage of necessity; it's nowhere, and yet it's everywhere. You can't hear, feel, or smell it, yet your life depends on it, and your behaviour is a product of it. The invisible iron bars of this all-consuming economic system drives our motivations and behaviour. The sum of all…