One of the great challenges posed by addressing sustainability issues is that so many of these problems are “complex” or what are sometimes called “wicked problems”. It is very difficult to know whether an action that seems beneficial at first sight is actually going to be beneficial in the long run. For example, how many of us actually know the net benefit of us using a cloth bag instead of plastic throwaway bags at the supermarket? How was the cloth bag made? How much energy did it use? How many plastic bags will it replace? Etc etc.
Another area now under consideration is food packaging. The gut reaction is that we should not have so much, if any packaging. But what about the shelf life of food as a result? What is the net impact of having more food waste against less packaging waste?
Read a really good entry article on this in Eco-business.
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.