The cover story of Time’s March 23, 2009 issue  was entitled “10 Ideas That are Changing the World Right Now.”

The last idea that they featured on that list was the concept of ecological intelligence, and the how there is an ever increasing drive by the general populace to acquire it. Truly, we are in the midst of a new age, when it comes it comes to people understanding the utmost importance that is attached to building a renewable and sustainable economy. Most scientists agree that the current damage of human consumption, writ large, is not having a beneficial effect on the planet.

An excerpt from the article:

“Using a young science called industrial ecology, businesses and green activists alike are beginning to compile the environmental and biological impact of our every decision…That’s thinking ecologically — understanding the global environmental consequences of our local choices. “We can know the causes of what we’re doing, and we can know the impact of what we’re doing,” says Goleman, who wrote the 1995 best seller Emotional Intelligence. “It’s going to have a radical impact on the way we do business.”

At first glance this may not seem like much, but this is incredibly important. Our world economy is being remade right before our eyes. And it starts with you. And you. And all of us. It is the little things that add up. Like when I go to the supermarket and decide on which kind of rice I want to purchase or which wine I want to buy. Most of the time our choices are simply based off of taste, nutrition and price. We want to receive the most value for our dollar. We want the best tasting and most delicious meal for the lowest price. However, a new decision variable is being added to the mix: environmental impact. People are more and more deciding to buy the product that provides them with the most value, at the least cost to the enviroment.

Standards are being created on macro level so consumers can better compare products in this regard. Investigative journalism is making it known to the public which companies wantonly dump waste into rivers in the process of making their product. The green movement isn’t just about granolas trying to save a few trees anymore. It’s about people truly coming to understand how every decision they make, every product they purchase has some kind of deletirious effect on our planet. And on a macro basis, consumers as a whole, are “getting it.”

We are starting to buy from companies that are leaders in sustainable practices. We are shunning companies that seem not to give two hoots about the planet. We are buying more energy efficient products. We are getting meeting ever larger amounts of our energy demand from wind, water, solar and biological sources.

Adam Smith once wrote, “What is prudence in the conduct of every private family, can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom.” This is the reason that ecological intelligence is changing the world. Growing numbers of consumers are beginning to realize the environmental impact of their individual choices. As this few turns into a great multitude, the habits of entire countries begin to change, economies begin to rightcycle, and our world becomes a better place.