ABSTRACT
This paper uses a systems framework to search for criteria for determining the rates of use of material resources. The existing criteria, which are found in the neo-classical economic theory and the environmental movement, are re-examined and their limitations are discussed. The criteria for material resource use identified by this paper emphasize that resources be selected from the environment on the basis of their regeneration time constant and consumed in a way that should maintain adequate organizational slack in the system. Based on these criteria, geological information about material resources appears to take precedence as basis for determining their rates of use over their economic feasibility and efficiency of use.
