John Elkington Quotes

• The path to relative economic, social and ecological sustainability is guaranteed to be littered with failures of every nature and scale. If we recognize them and learn from them, the transition will proceed faster and in more resource-efficient ways. If, on the other hand, we prefer the short-term comfort of burying our failures, or of blaming scapegoats, the transition will be significantly slowed, or could even be derailed completely.

  John Elkington

  Inspiring, Hands, Comfort

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• So, you could call me optimistic and hopeful and probably just a little bit naïve, but I'm coming from the space that the best way to predict the future is to get out there and just do it yourself.

  John Elkington

  Optimistic, Space, Hopeful

  "John Elkington, the 'Breakthrough Challenge' and tomorrow's bottom line". Interview with Joel Makower, www.greenbiz.com. September 3, 2014.

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• Behavioral change is more important than individual product choices. They both have a role to play.

  John Elkington

  Play, Choices, Important

  Source: www.motherjones.com

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• I'm worried about greenwashing. I think we should come down on it very, very hard, whether it's with criminal intent or actively deceptive.

  John Elkington

  Thinking, Criminals, Worried

  Source: www.motherjones.com

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• I think that consumerism is intrinsically a pretty flawed social system.

  John Elkington

  Thinking, Social, Consumerism

  Source: www.motherjones.com

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• I think people often underestimate the power of consumers. But I equally say that consumers are like shock troops: You can't keep them agitated and motivated and committed and active forever. There are pulses where they switch on to a particular issue, and just inevitably they switch off.

  John Elkington

  Thinking, Issues, People

  Source: www.motherjones.com

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• The biggest weakness of the green-consumer movement, always, is that we tend to pick the easy-to-do things because that's where we can most readily engage people. It doesn't cost them very much to switch products or whatever it happens to be.

  John Elkington

  People, Weakness, Cost

  Source: www.motherjones.com

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• What people say often precedes what they think. Some people sometimes say, "I have to hear myself talk before I know what I think." I think language sometimes, because it opens new channels, it opens new doors, is enormously important.

  John Elkington

  Thinking, Doors, People

  Source: www.motherjones.com

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• Any prudent business looks at the reality and how to maximize our investment.

  John Elkington

  Reality, Looks, Prudent

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• I became a vegetarian 55 years ago, and I think it's one of the more important behavioral changes I ever took. The more I see of the beef industry and so on, I believe that to be true.

  John Elkington

  Believe, Thinking, Years

  Source: www.motherjones.com

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• Companies watch what consumers are doing like a hawk. Just as one letter to a politician can signal an insipient problem, for companies, a trend where people are beginning to switch away from one of their key products to a rival offering on the basis of either claims or real improvements on performance, that's significant.

  John Elkington

  Real, Keys, Offering

  Source: www.motherjones.com

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• I think consumerism breeds dissatisfaction, and I think that the advertisers play to that. So I cannot be comfortable with that. On the other hand, the cornucopia of products and innovation - I love Apple, for example. That's a temple of consumerism in many ways.

  John Elkington

  Thinking, Hands, Play

  "Q&A: John Elkington". Interview with Jessie Finfrock, www.motherjones.com. November 2008.

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• I'm part of the consumer culture. I was part of the baby boom generation. I have a car when I shouldn't, a couple of computers; I can't be anti-consumerist in that sense.

  John Elkington

  Baby, Couple, Car

  Source: www.motherjones.com

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