Corporate responsibility extends not only to the customers, the resources, and the workers of the present, but to those of the future. We wouldn't have gone to war to maintain our oil-dependent lifestyle. If we really believe in the rightness of such planning then Patagonia as a company must walk what it talks. Last year when we decided to limit our growth we also committed ourselves to a life-span of a hundred years. A company that intends to be around that long will live within its resources, care for its people, and do everything it can to satisfy its community of customers.
Growth is a stupid goal.
So, by the way, is no growth. Growth is beside the point. The point is caring for people and resources and meeting real needs with the highest possible quality. When that is done the growth will fall where it may and where it should. Donella Meadows is an adjunct professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College and a contributing editor to IC .