CIO — A few weeks ago I played one of those online games that calculate your impact on the Earth. I fiddled a few times with the results to see which habit I could change to bring my score down. But even as a reasonably frugal, ecologically aware consumer, it seemed impossible to occupy only my sustainable share of the planet.

The game is hardly scientific, but it makes the point that sustainability requires more than superficial changes in how we live and work. The problem can’t be solved just by living more simply, as Robert Atkinson and Darrene Hackler with the Information Technology Innovation Foundation wrote recently. In a report busting what they say are 10 myths about combatting climate change, they argue that even if the global economy didn’t grow, population gains between now and 2030 would triple carbon dioxide emissions. In the United States, the Great Recession reduced emissions a mere 7 percent—far from the levels scientists say are needed to stop global temperatures from rising too high.

I don’t know anyone who wants to sign up for more economic stagnation or decline. But consumers do see the need for change. The Greendex, a survey by the National Geographic Society of consumers in 17 developed and emerging economies, found 66 percent of respondents globally—and 70 percent of Americans—believe their current lifestyle isn’t sustainable. But they want companies like yours to contribute. Asked to identify factors that discourage environmentally friendly behavior, 40 percent worldwide said their individual efforts don’t matter unless governments and industries take action, too. IT can step in here to make consumer products more environmentally viable.

Sustainable Product Strategies

“All of those appliances on a smart grid are like PCs on a network,” observes Summers. IT contributes expertise in how to collect data from this network, store it and analyze it.

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