5.1 Rule 1

Since the Industrial Revolution, we have been rapidly extracting more and more substances from the Earth’s crust—metals, minerals, and fossil fuels—and hoarding them away. As a result, our environment is gradually turning into a place where life is no longer possible for us. It is therefore important to stop this accumulation of substances in our biosphere.

Rule or sustainability principle 1…

We sometimes use the term “rule” instead of “sustainability principle.” A rule for achieving sustainability. The first rule is:

What you can do to avoid breaking Rule 1

Sustainability Principle 1 (Rule 1) does not mean that we can no longer use any materials or minerals at all. The main point is that we make smarter choices about what we extract, how we extract it, and how we manage, use, and reuse those materials in a way that does not disrupt natural cycles.

If you really put your mind to it, you can probably come up with countless examples of ways to extract fewer or no more materials from the Earth’s crust. Below are a few real-world examples from today that help us use materials from the Earth’s crust more effectively and sustainably.