Sustainable use of the planet will require multiple sustainability strategies, which will range from the entire system, the entire Earth, to the local or regional. Strategies starting at the highest system level are referred to as 'top-down,' and strategies designed for components, local or regional, are referred to as 'bottom-up.' Doubtless, several intermediate levels will eventually be required, although the number is far from clear at this time. It is abundantly clear that both top-down and

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... bottom-up strategies must be integrated effectively or neither will work well. Furthermore, there will be significant uncertainties at both levels of organization, which will be reduced as evidence accumulates. However, sustainability is too complex and dynamic to reduce scientific uncertainty to a level desired by most decision makers. A greater emphasis on sustain-ethics and value judgments will improve communications between those working at different organizational levels since humankind's wish to leave a habitable planet for its descendants and those of other life forms is clearly a value judgment. KEY WORDS: Top-down strategy · Bottom-up strategy · Sustainability strategies · Eco-ethics · Value judgments Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be. Albert Einstein I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. Henry David Thoreau LITERATURE CITED Cairns J Jr (2002a) Reexamining the 'inherent worth and dignity of every person' paradigm in an interdependent web of life context. J Lib Rel 3(1), available at www.meadville.edu/cairns_3_1.html Cairns J Jr (2002b) Revisiting respect for the interdependent web of life and the worth and dignity of each individual: a major issue in sustainable use of the planet.