Watch Alex Steffen’s “Seeing a Sustainable Future” talk at TED

Worldchanging.com founder Alex Steffen argues that reducing humanity’s ecological footprint is incredibly vital now, as the western consumer lifestyle spreads to developing countries.

Alex Steffen is cofounder and executive editor of WorldChanging.com. Part blog and part eco-activist street team, WorldChanging.com serves as a clearinghouse of information and inspiration dedicated to increasing sustainability and livability into the 21st century, emphasizing solutions over problems.

Steffen was an environmental journalist in Seattle when he realized that the tools and methods for improving society’s ecological profile by and large already exist — they just need better PR. Steffen and friend Jamais Cascio co-founded WorldChanging.com to provide that PR, linking to and posting stories by dozens of contributors around the world on everything from consumer activism and sustainable farming to alternative energy and green building projects, to technology, globalization, and human rights. World Changing, a sprawling 600-page collection of content from the website combined with new material, was published in 2006 to wide acclaim.