Materials Matter

A unique and comprehensive synthesis and compendium of heretofore disparate writings on and critiques of the precautionary principle, incorporating both European and American legal, political, and cultural traditions and perspectives. Theoretically sound and practically oriented, this book will be a must-read for policy analysts and policymakers, environmentalists, enlightened industrialists, citizens and activists, and students of government and regulation. --Nicholas A. Ashford, Professor of Technology and Policy, MIT, and coauthor of *Environmental Law, Policy, and Economics: Reclaiming the Environmental Agenda* I congratulate Ken Geiser. I personally found this to be an interesting and a useful book. He has done a thorough job, particularly on the history of materials, creation of synthetic materials, and dissipation of toxics. --David Berry, Chair, Federal Interagency Working Group on Industrial Ecology, Materials and Energy Flows Geiser effectively makes the case that materials matter in a virtual age. He provides a guide to developing a sustainable materials policy for citizen leaders, innovators in government, and scientists and engineers with a public policy bent. --Francis Irwin, World Resources Institute In this timely and insightful major contribution to the sustainable development literature, Professor Ken Geiser urges a policy shift from assessing the environmental consequences of an industrial economy increasingly dependent on chemicals and metals to a double-pronged strategy of dematerialization and detoxification. Sustainable strategies for both government and private sector stakeholders are offered for designing and using inherently safer and environmentally-sound materials, redesigning process technology, and shifting from product to product-services. --Nicholas A. Ashford, Professor of Technology and Policy, MIT, and coauthor of *Environmental Law, Policy, and Economics: Reclaiming the Environmental Agenda*