sustainable development

It is generally agreed that many of the practices of Industrial Age manufacturing and production cannot be sustained for the good of the planet. What do we mean by this? Essentially, what we are saying is if things continue in this way, it will be detrimental to the planet.
The alternative is Sustainable Development. A key aspect of Sustainable Development is the notion of completing the loop of inputs from the birth of a product to its death (from cradle to grave).
This requires a fundamental awareness of the relationships between all elements in the production cycles and a responsiveness to their effects at each level of their manufacture and use.