About

Post Growth is a blog about ditching “bigger” for “better.” It turns out that economic growth and human prosperity aren’t one and the same – and too much growth can harm both our societies and the planet’s support systems. So let’s move beyond growth and find a better alternative: a sustainable economy whose purpose is something greater – like the well-being of people and nature.

Earth is finite – and governed by a set of natural laws written by physics, chemistry and biology. Neither people, trees, animals or stars can grow forever. Yet somehow, we seem to think that the human enterprise can grow forever. More people, more growth, more consumption. How long can this go on for? Is there a limit? What happens when we reach it?

Where is the point at which the costs of growth outweigh the benefits (and not just those that can be counted in dollar terms)? How would the world work, post-growth? And why would it be in our individual and collective interests to pursue that world?

This blog is a collaborative project dedicated to imagining our post-growth world. We hope you’ll join the conversation, challenge others, yourselves and us – and contribute to the evolution of a world built better, not bigger.

Authors

We’re privileged to have this forum together to express our views and ideas. Each author takes some of their “free time” to post on a rotating schedule, together generating about one post per week. Authors include:

Joshua Nelson, Engineer & Writer. Joshua started his online writing with a blog about the Steady State Economy and has been an active volunteer with the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE). He is a practicing structural engineering with a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington and holds a LEED Accredidation (LEED AP). Joshua, his partner, and their son live in Seattle, Washington.

Sharon Ede, Writer. Sharon is a sustainability writer and activist from Adelaide, South Australia, who stashes her treasured stories at cruxcatalyst. She has been working on sustainability issues since 1993 and is currently an outreach volunteer for two international NGOs concerned with ecological limits, the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE) and Global Footprint Network (where she was an intern in 2001). During her university days, she spent five years working as a full time volunteer with Urban Ecology Australia, a nonprofit community group that promotes the development of ecological cities through education and example.

Scott Gast, Writer. Scott is a writer and activist from Chicago, Illinois. He works currently at YES! Magazine, with earlier years at Orion Magazine and Chicago’s Waste to Profit Network. He’s intrigued by the deep and systemic questions that life on a finite planet puts into play and the bewildering way they’re all connected – from the economic to the cultural to the existential. But don’t mention any of  this during dinner – he’ll get worked up. Scott is a graduate of the Environmental Science program at Allegheny College.

Guest Contributors

We are always interested in sharing and expanding the conversation. If you have a meaningful thing to add, please contact us.