Economic forces and conservation?

Question

Describe a creative/innovative way to change a social institution in order to align economic forces with conservation.

Answer 1

People in business must make a profit or there will be no jobs and we starve. Especially the big company's  is where u find your good jobs.

Answer 2

The only way I see to accomplish this would be to change the way people are educated. It is too difficult to put a dollar value on clean air or water, so most corporate business models externalize it, basically placing the cost of environmental damage on the public, or "social commons" (that's us). Only by changing our attitudes of dollar VS Clean air, and realize that clean air is important no matter what the cost, as long as we wish to continue breathing, can we change. Our planet is the only one we have, but we still believe infinite economic growth is possible and desirable.

A more simplistic approach would be to raise the price of an important resource, such as oil, to a level that makes it no longer cost-effective to waste it as we do now. As water supplies are polluted, water will also become more valuable, forcing better conservation and less water pollution.

Answer 3

Reward conservation with anything of value--money, privilege, power!