This paper discusses six steps which must be taken on a global level to put society on a sustainable path. Of the various steps none is more important than bringing population growth to a halt. The official United Nations medium-level population projects, used by planners throughout the world, show world population reaching some 10.5 billion before eventually stabilizing a century or more from now. It is recommended that the world population be stabilized at the six billion level by the year 2000. The second step to a sustainable society is protecting the croplands that are the main source of food worldwide. An understanding that soil loss eventually means less and costlier food is needed if a national soil conservation ethic is to be adopted. The third step is reforesting the earth. The World Bank now supports community-based forestry projects along with the commercial timber ventures it has traditionally backed. The fourth step is to repair, reuse, or recycle goods. The fifth and sixth keys to the evolution of a sustainable society is the conservation of energy and the development of renewable energy. (RM)