Just as production and consumption exist not in a circular relationship, but in a linear one of ingestion and expulsion that begins in waste and ends in pollution, the endless exploitation of nature will not cause the Earth's water and soil to disappear, but will irrevocably degrade their quality.
正如生產與消費並非循環過程，而是線性的吞吐，開始於消耗，終止於污染；無止盡的自然開發，儘管水、土等資源不會消滅，但資源的性質已然改變，要重新逆轉使之再度發揮功能，是不可能的任務。