The global economy currently uses 1.6 times more renewable resources than the earth can produce in a year, and by 2030 that number is expected to reach 2 if we stay on our current course. Something needs to change if we hope to create a sustainable society… but what, and how can it be brought about?

Aaron Danowski (Class of 2013) is a rising senior at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington studying Business Administration and Sociology. He is interested in social, environmental, and economic justice, and he is a strong proponent of sustainable global development in the 21st century. As a freshman at Gonzaga, Aaron was selected to travel to Chennai, India as part of a vetting team for the Opus Prize, a $1.2 million award recognizing three faith based social entrepreneurs annual around the world. The team visited the Janodayam Social Education Centre, an organization working to minimize caste discrimination against Dalit “untouchables”. The next summer, Aaron travelled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti to work for a sandal-making social enterprise called Rebuild Globally. In his spare time, Aaron conducted interviews with social entrepreneurs around Port-au-Prince for a research project on the subject, which is currently slated to be published by Dr. Alex Nicholls at Oxford University.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx