Skeptoid - Skeptoid #5: Sustainable Sustainability
Aired: 2006-11-01
Duration: 11:22


=== The Vague Meaning of Sustainable (10:12) ===

[00:00:03]  Sustainability is a popular theme in science.
[00:00:07]  But unfortunately, like so many buzzwords, it has come to be overused to the point of becoming essentially meaningless.
[00:00:14]  When marketers slap the label sustainable onto virtually every product or service, does the word have any meaning at all anymore?
[00:00:23]  Sustainable sustainability is coming right up on Skeptoid.
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[00:01:33]  You're listening to Skeptoid.
[00:01:35]  I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.
[00:01:38]  Sustainable Sustainability.
[00:01:41]  I bet you didn't know that Skeptoid is a sustainable podcast, delivered over a sustainable internet using sustainable networks, and received through your sustainable ears.
[00:01:53]  Now you know.
[00:01:54]  But you really should have known that already because this decade's winner of the award for buzzword overused to the point of meaninglessness has to be the word sustainable.
[00:02:06]  To label your product or processes sustainable is to imply that competing products and processes are not sustainable.
[00:02:14]  What this is intended to mean is often pretty vague.
[00:02:17]  Presumably it means that competing products are manufactured from materials that we'll run out of should current methods and usage continue.
[00:02:27]  The word was first coined to describe products or methods that are generally better for the environment.
[00:02:33]  Soon, the marketing gurus got a hold of the word and now everything from toothpaste to music to real estate is being sold as sustainable.
[00:02:43]  Search Amazon for the word sustainable and prepare to be amazed by the diversity of products whose marketers have jumped onto this particular buzzword bandwagon.
[00:02:54]  It's so effective and thus popular because it's become really just an alarmist term.
[00:02:59]  Calling your product sustainable is not really saying anything about your product.
[00:03:04]  It's clanging the warning bell about the alternative being unsustainable.
[00:03:09]  Can't be sustained.
[00:03:10]  The world is ending.
[00:03:12]  It's like calling your product hate-free or cruelty-free.
[00:03:17]  In no way is it descriptive of your product.
[00:03:20]  It's simply an underhanded way to insult your competition.
[00:03:24]  As any marketing expert will tell you, people respond much better to a negative than to a positive.
[00:03:31]  One gross overusage of the term is sustainable agriculture when used by those selling organic crops.
[00:03:38]  Perhaps the word's single most common manifestation.
[00:03:42]  Organic agriculture is certainly sustainable so long as a third of the world's population is willing to die off so the rest of us can eat.
[00:03:50]  As with many people who use the word sustainable, proponents of organic foods aren't really saying anything particular about their product.
[00:03:58]  They're trying to frighten you into thinking that modern farming practices will somehow destroy or deplete the environment and are thus unsustainable.
[00:04:08]  Ironically, the reverse is closer to the truth.
[00:04:11]  Modern biotech crops require less fertilizer and less pesticide.
[00:04:16]  Many are drought-tolerant and can get by with less water, and per acre yields have skyrocketed.
[00:04:22]  Organic, the so-called sustainable method, loses on all counts of resources consumed.
[00:04:31]  The word organic is itself the same kind of deceptive marketing, intended to trick you into thinking the alternative is somehow not organic.
[00:04:40]  Strictly speaking, all plants and animals are organic, according to the word's true definition.
[00:04:45]  It's another great example of the same basic lesson.
[00:04:48]  When you hear any product defined only by a vague buzzword, especially one that's grossly overused, be skeptical.
[00:05:02]  In a world that can feel overwhelming, spreading thoughtful, evidence-based content is one of the best ways to make a positive impact.
[00:05:09]  Ask your local public radio station to air the Skeptoid Files, a 30-minute radio-friendly version of Skeptoid that pairs two related episodes promoting real science, true history, and critical thinking.
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[00:06:12]  And that's how we shape a better future.
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[00:06:39]  The word sustainable has become so pervasive that its usage is often just plain silly.
[00:06:44]  Colgate recently purchased a company that makes sustainable toothpaste.
[00:06:48]  It contains bone powder.
[00:06:51]  Does an intelligent person really think that it's unsustainable to make toothpaste any other way?
[00:06:58]  Sustainable tourism is being marketed everywhere.
[00:07:01]  It usually describes destinations where the attractions are generally undeveloped, like the Amazon.
[00:07:08]  Is it really unsustainable to vacation in developed destinations like Paris or Tokyo?
[00:07:14]  Certainly, a cogent argument could be formed saying that it's best to shield the undeveloped areas from the impact of tourism.
[00:07:23]  Sustainable economics are particularly bizarre.
[00:07:26]  Google the term and you'll find that it's used largely to refer to wealth redistribution.
[00:07:32]  In the history of world economies, has communism really proven to be more sustainable than capitalism?
[00:07:39]  There may be fine arguments to make in favor of wealth redistribution, but that such a system should be expected to survive longer is certainly not the case.
[00:07:50]  A prominent automotive magazine recently tested for sustainable sports sedans.
[00:07:56]  Are four cars that get marginally better gas mileage than other similar cars, none of which are particularly great, honestly the only type of vehicles whose production can be sustained.
[00:08:08]  Eventually, all our cars will run on fuel that truly is sourced from an infinitely sustainable way.
[00:08:14]  But until we get there, it's disingenuous to say some current cars are sustainable and some aren't.
[00:08:22]  Sustainable music is also all over the internet.
[00:08:25]  In one case, it means the guy makes his own instruments.
[00:08:29]  Is sustainable really the word that best describes that?
[00:08:33]  Playing an instrument made by someone else is not sustainable?
[00:08:37]  In other cases, it refers to songs about anti-corporatism.
[00:08:40]  Is it truly impossible to sustain the playing of music about other themes?
[00:08:46]  These may all be fine subjects, but they should be recognized on their merits, not for their association with a buzzword.
[00:08:55]  I found a website offering sustainable real estate.
[00:08:58]  Two of the houses were built of corn cobs and hay bales.
[00:09:02]  I'll ask the big bad wolf how sustainable that type of engineering is.
[00:09:09]  There's no doubt that doing things in a truly sustainable way is good.
[00:09:14]  Accomplishing a worthy goal in a way that's infinitely repeatable is best, and that's what sustainable really means.
[00:09:20]  True sustainability might violate the laws of thermodynamics, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
[00:09:26]  It's still a good goal, and as such, sustainability deserves not to be deluded into a meaningless buzzword.
[00:09:33]  Thus, true environmentalists should be the first ones to object to the misleading pop culture usages of the word that we see every two minutes.
[00:09:43]  When you hear it, be skeptical.
[00:09:46]  Figure out what they're really trying to say and what their motivation is.
[00:09:50]  And please, don't buy any bone powder toothpaste just because it says sustainable on the package.
[00:10:02]  You're listening to Skeptoid, a listener-supported non-profit program.
[00:10:07]  I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.

=== Don't Buy Bone Powder Toothpaste (01:06) ===

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