Pushing the Boundaries of Sustainability in Global Materials

In the scope of human evolution, the notion of sustainability is a new one. According to Wikipedia, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development brought about the current definition in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. This means that only 30 years ago, people were waking up to the idea that Gen X and the generations after them would need to do a far better job of taking care of this planet than ever before. From their earliest school days, Gen X was taught that the Earth was in trouble; rivers burned, acid rain fell upon our crops, and humans were to blame. It was time to own our mistakes.