Global Leadership Academy

MATERIAL PARSIMONY Biosphere Rule #1: Minimize the types of materials used in products. Focus on materials that are life-friendly and economically recyclable. The first Biosphere Rule is Materials Parsimony and it is, quite simply, about simplification. It is minimizing the types of materials used in products. I want to be clear that I’m not talking about minimizing the amounts of materials. Minimizing the amounts of materials is a different sustainability strategy, alternatively called eco-efficiency, dematerialization or even light-weighting. In Rule 1, we're talking about types of materials, and we'll see why minimizing the types of materials are so important as a foundation for the biosphere rules.