Abstract
One of the most important and yet most difficult of the ethical challenges facing technological civilization is "excessive" consumption in the affluent nations. This includes dissipative use of raw materials and production of waste at rates higher than sources or sinks regenerate. Ethics-driven decisions about working on toxic products or in the defense of industry are familiar to engineering students; but are engineers who design new products ethically compelled to resist "overconsumption"? Should engineering curricula be targeted toward avoiding overconsumption? Technical professionals may be uniquely positioned to work against some aspects of overconsumption, and it is worth inquiring into whether and how the topic might be incorporated into engineering education and practice. Christian engineers perhaps should be concerned especially if and when they determine that the products and processes they help develop and distribute will abet overconsumption. Arguing from this premise, we attempt to establish a theological foundation for Christian engineers and educators to guide their responses to the issue. The nascent field of Industrial Ecology provides a promising beginning.