Discover Sustainability
What is Sustainability?
The internationally-recognized concept of “Sustainability” encompasses all of an organization’s activities and its total impact on our planet. There are multiple, complementary ways to define sustainability, and they generally all include a respect for the future.
Sustainability involves looking at the whole system over time in order to make the best choices for society's long-term benefit and includes facets such as:
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Recognizing the interdependence of environmental, economic and social factors.
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A goal of only having neutral or positive impacts on the natural and human environments.
It is a journey which begins with the first understanding of Sustainability and proceeds with each step taken toward full sustainability, all the while learning more about the road and importance of the journey.
The most common definition of sustainability:
“…meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
- United Nations Brundtland Commission, 1987
A Native American perspective:
“What about the seventh generation? Where are you taking them? What will they have?... We say that the faces of coming generations are looking up from the earth. So when you put your feet down, you put them down very carefully - because there are generations coming one after the other. If you think in these terms, then you'll walk a lot more carefully, be more respectful of this earth.”
- Oren Lyons, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Chief
Printable References
- Info-Sheet: What is Sustainability?
- Worksheet: Sustainability for Kids
Green vs. Sustainable
Although "Green" and "Sustainable" are often used interchangeably, their real meanings are quite distinct:
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“Green” involves taking steps to have less impact, usually only from an environmental standpoint. It usually focuses on a specific challenge and/or solution: i.e., global warming and wind energy. "Green" initiatives are a vital part of sustainability.
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“Sustainable” strives for a no-impact goal, and includes social and economic factors in the consideration. It includes all of an organization's impacts.
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Green |
Sustainable |
Scope |
Environment |
Environment, Economy, Society |
Focus |
Details (exclusive) |
Whole Systems (inclusive, visionary) |
Implementation |
Tactical |
Strategic |
Definition of Success |
Subjective (no common definition) |
Objective (can be clearly defined) |
United Nations Evolves Understanding of Sustainability
In 1972 the United Nations held the first global Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. It was agreed that the environment is critical, could be changed drastically by human activities, and that common principles were needed to inspire and guide the peoples of the world in its preservation and enhancement.
Stockholm Conference: http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=97
By 1984 it had become clear that a solely environmental focus wasn’t sufficient. The concept of sustainable development was born with the United Nations Brundtland Commission, which issued its famous report, Our Common Future, in 1987.
Brundtland Commission Report: http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm
This led to the 1992 global Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro known as the Rio Earth Summit. The concept of sustainable development had now evolved to include the concept of global environmental change, globalization as an economic concept and human development as a social/cultural concept.
Rio Earth Summit: http://www.un.org/geninfo/bp/enviro.html
At the Rio Earth Summit a plan for governments to implement actions to address a wide range of issues was developed, known as Agenda 21, which still influences local and national sustainable development policies today.
Agenda 21: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/english/agenda21toc.htm
Why Act Now?
We will never have more options than we have today. Currently, as resources are being depleted, demand for them is simultaneously increasing. In order to avoid the point at which demand for resources exceeds availability, institutions, governments, businesses, and individuals need to work together to implement sustainable practices.
Devolution
Karl-Heinrich Robert, developer of the Natural Step, perceives that humans have reversed evolution.
"Most people are not aware that it took living cells about 3.5 billion years to transform the virgin soup of the atmosphere -- which was a toxic, chaotic mixture of sulfurous compounds, methane, carbon dioxide, and other substances -- into the conditions that could support complex life.
"In just the last DECADES humans have reversed this trend. First we found concentrated energy like fossil fuels and nuclear power. As a result, we can create such a high throughput of resources that natural processes no longer have the time to process the waste and build new resources.
"Dispersed junk is increasing in the system as we lose soils, forests, and species. So we have reversed evolution. The Earth is running back towards the chaotic state it came from at a tremendous speed."
To learn more about sustainability and approaches to achieving it, go to "Understanding Sustainability".