Q&A: Can Capitalism and Sustainability Coexist?

Q&A: Can Capitalism and Sustainability Coexist?

“Can capitalism and sustainability co-exist? Amazon, for example.”

-C.K.C.

It’s a question that comes up a lot in conversations about the climate crisis, the future of our economy, and how we live on this planet: Can capitalism and sustainability actually coexist?

My personal answer is: No—at least not in the current form of capitalism we live under.

Modern capitalism is built on a simple formula: extract resources, minimize costs, and maximize profit. That’s the goal. And if you’re playing by those rules, it actually rewards the exploitation of people and the planet.

When profit is the primary driver, companies are motivated to find the cheapest labor and resources, which usually means unfair or unsafe working conditions when it comes to labor, and resources like our forests, rivers, soil, and species become things to take from, not protect. Capitalism externalizes costs—dumping pollution into the air or water, underpaying workers, or exhausting ecosystems—because it can. Because it’s cheaper. Because there’s often no immediate consequence, certainly not on the balance sheet.

To be clear, I don’t believe every business or entrepreneur is evil. Many people are doing amazing work inside this system to reduce harm, regenerate ecosystems, and push for justice. (I have a lot of them on my podcast, Solve For Nature!) But they are often swimming upstream. The rules of the game push them toward growth, efficiency, and scale—even when those goals conflict with a truly sustainable or equitable future.

Take Amazon, for example. On the surface, it is the example of modern efficiency—cheap products delivered to your door in a day at one push of a button. But behind that convenience is a system that squeezes warehouse workers with intense productivity quotas, undercuts small businesses, and relies on an enormous carbon footprint to operate its global supply chain. Amazon doesn’t thrive in spite of these impacts—it thrives because of them. That’s the logic of capitalism in action: externalize costs, extract maximum value, and scale up endlessly. It’s not broken—it’s functioning exactly as designed.

Can we tweak capitalism to make it sustainable? Maybe. But that would require more than just recycling initiatives and carbon offsets. It would take a fundamental shift in what we value and how we measure success. At some point, there has to be limits on how much you can take from the environment, or how much you can pollute into it. As long as the ultimate goal is infinite profit, people and the planet lose. We need an economy built around thriving—for people, communities, and the living world.

So what can we do? One powerful step is to support brands that prioritize fair wages, ethical sourcing, and environmental responsibility—even if their products cost a bit more. Look for certifications like Fair Trade, B Corp, or 1% for the Planet. Shop local when you can. Repair instead of replace. Be hyper-critical of whether you really need something before you buy it. And most importantly, stay curious—ask where things come from, who made them, and what the true cost might be. Our choices alone won’t change the system, but they can support the kind of economy we want to see grow.