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REDEFINING THE AMERICAN DREAM: The Search for Sustainable Consumption

On April 23-25, ninety-eight people gathered at the Airlie Conference Center in northern Virginia to discuss possible strategies for achieving sustainable consumption in the United States. A Conference Planning Group designed the conference agenda and selected the participants.

The question that fueled the conference was "How do we create a society that does not steal from the future?" If the world is to develop along a sustainable path, Americans, who consume goods, resources, and energy in such disproportionate amounts compared to other people, must dramatically change their habits. Another compelling dimension to this question demands attention: In our quest for material wealth, we are squandering not only our environmental capital, but our time, money, and the quality of our life.

The conference was a strategic gathering. People from diverse backgrounds assembled to tackle the issues, drawing on and gaining strength from their colleagues" varied strengths and interests. It also demonstrated clearly that the many people working separately on pieces of the complex sustainability puzzle are eager to work together.

The Planning Group recognized that the conference was in many ways a first step in a long process. The conference did not provide a blueprint for action, but it yielded some indicators for how to move forward