What Does Sustainability Mean?
Sustainability, sustainable development, sustainable communities, there may be as many different definitions of sustainability as there are people who have tried to define it.
Each definition is helpful because each resonates differently with different people. All together, they paint a picture of what a sustainable economic, social, and environmental world would look like. Here are some of my favorite definitions, gathered over the thirty years I’ve been helping people in organizations and communities create a more sustainable world.
Starting with the basics - what does the dictionary say?
Sustain: to cause to continue (as in existence or a certain state, or in force or intensity); to keep up, especially without interruption diminution, flagging, etc.; to prolong. Webster's New International Dictionary. 1986
Develop: to bring out the capabilities or possibilities of, to bring to a more advanced or effective state. Random House Dictionary of the English Language. 1987
Probably the most quoted definition:
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Brundtland Commission, Our Common Future 1987
Next is one of my favorites, which more clearly explains the without compromising part of the Brundtland definition above:
Improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco systems. IUCN/UNEP/WWF Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living. 1991
Many of the following are from the 1990s and early 2000s from organizations that may no longer exist or that may have revised, reframed, or even removed these definitions from their websites. Regardless, I provide them here to show the rich variety of ways to explain sustainability that ultimately come down to a similar vision.
Sustainability is the long-term, cultural, economic, and environmental health and vitality with emphasis on long-term, together with the importance of linking our social, financial, and environmental well-being. Sustainable Seattle ca 1995
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The ancient and enduring practice of creating richness in natural resources, attuning to nature’s environmental indicators, and providing equitable access to health, food, shelter, and economic wealth for all people. Sustainable Seattle 2022
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In a sustainable community, resource consumption is balanced by resources assimilated by the ecosystem. The sustainability of a community is largely determined by the web of resources providing its food, fiber, water, and energy needs and by the ability of natural systems to process its wastes. A community is unsustainable if it consumes resources faster than they can be renewed, produces more wastes than natural systems can process or relies upon distant sources for its basic needs. Sustainable Community Roundtable South Puget Sound. ca 1995
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Sustainable society is a society whose long term prospect for continuing to exist are good. Such a society would be characterized by an emphasis on preserving the environment, developing strong peaceful relationships between people and nations, and an emphasis on equitable distribution of wealth. Coop America 1995
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Sustainable communities foster commitment to place, promote vitality, build resilience to stress, act as stewards, and forge connections beyond the community. Northwest Policy Institute ca 1997
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Sustainable development is the process of building equitable, productive and participatory structures to increase the economic empowerment of communities and their surrounding regions. Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility ca 1997
Sustainable community development is the ability to make development choices which respect the relationship between the three E's:
Economy - Economic activity should serve the common good, be self renewing, and build local assets and self reliance.
Ecology - Humans are part of nature, nature has limits, and communities are responsible for protecting and building natural assets.
Equity - The opportunity for full participation in all activities, benefits, and decision making of a society.
Mountain Association for Community Economic Development ca 1995
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Aloha 'aina, malama' aina, ahupua'a style living... Aloha 'aina simply means to love and respect the land, make it yours and claim stewardship for it. Malama 'aina means to care for and nurture the land so it can give back all we need to sustain life for ourselves and our future generations, and, an ahupua'a is an ancient concept of resource uses and management based on families living in a division of land that connects the mountains to the reefs and the sea. Puanani Rogers, Ho`okipa Network, Lihu`e, Kaua'i, Hawaii. ca 1995
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Farmers in sustainable agriculture are concerned about feeding their families and paying their bills, but those are not their only goals in life. They set out to protect the land, improve their quality of life, and enhance the communities in which they live. Their day to day decisions are not guided by a single minded search for profit, but by a delicate balancing act among many goals. Dick Levins. Land Stewardship Program. Monitoring Sustainable Agriculture with Conventional Financial Data. 1996
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Sustainable development is positive change which does not undermine the environmental or social systems on which we depend. It requires a coordinated approach to planning and policy making that involves public participation. Its success depends on widespread understanding of the critical relationship between people and their environment and the will to make necessary changes. Hamilton Wentworth Regional Council ca 1998
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Satisfying lives for all, within the means of nature. Mathis Wackernagel. ca 1997
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Sustainability encompasses the simple principle of taking from the earth only what it can provide indefinitely, thus leaving future generations no less than we have access to ourselves. Friends of the Earth Scotland. ca 1998
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The reconciliation of society’s developmental goals with the planet’s environmental limits over the long term. Board on Sustainable Development, National Research Council. Our Common Journey. 1999
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Sustainability is meeting the needs of all humans, being able to do so on a finite planet for generations to come while ensuring some degree of openness and flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances. Jerry Sturmer, Santa Barbara South Coast Community Indicators. ca 1997
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Improving the quality of all human life while living off the interest of the community capital (natural, human, social and built). Maureen Hart, Sustainable Measures. 1998
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Sustainability may be described as our responsibility to proceed in a way that will sustain life – that will allow our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to live comfortably in a friendly, clean, and healthy world…. that people:
Take responsibility for life in all its forms as well as respect human work and aspirations;
Respect individual rights and community responsibilities;
Recognize social, environmental, economic, and political systems to be inter dependent;
Weigh costs and benefits of decisions fully, including long term costs and benefits to future generations;
Acknowledge that resources are finite and that there are limits to growth;
Assume control of their destinies;
Recognize that our ability to see the needs of the future is limited, and any attempt to define sustainability should remain as open and flexible as possible.
Thomas Jefferson Sustainability Council (Charlottesville, Virginia) ca 1998
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Sustainable community development is not based on finding the solution, but on increasing the capacity of individuals and communities to work together to respond to constant changes. Cornelia Flora. Heartland Center for Leadership Development. ca 1998
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A way of life that safeguards and enhances our resources, prevents harm to the natural environment and human health, and sustains and benefits the community and local economy – for the sake of current and future generations. Santa Monica Sustainable City Program ca 1998.
Sustainability isn’t only about communities, it’s also about the economic processes necessary to allow those communities to thrive. Here are some definitions about sustainable business and sustainable production Here are some definitions relating to sustainable business and production:
Sustainable Production is the creation of goods and services using processes and systems that are: non-polluting; conserving of energy and natural resources; economically efficient; safe and healthful for workers, communities, and consumers; and, socially and creatively rewarding for all working people. Lowell Center for Sustainable Production ca 1999.
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Principles of Sustainable Production: Products and services are
safe and ecologically sound throughout their life cycle
as appropriate, designed to be durable, repairable, readily recycled, compostable, or easily biodegradable
produced and packaged using the minimal amount of material and energy possible
Processes are designed and operated such that
wastes and ecologically incompatible byproducts are reduced, eliminated or recycled on- site
chemical substances or physical agents and conditions that present hazards to human health or the environment are eliminated
energy and materials are conserved, and the forms of energy and materials used are most appropriate for the desired ends;
work spaces are designed to minimize or eliminate chemical, ergonomic and physical hazard
Workers are valued and
their work is organized to conserve and enhance their efficiency and creativity
their security and well-being is a priority
they are encouraged and helped to continuously develop of their talents and capacities
their input to and participation in the decision making process is openly accepted
Communities related to any stage of the product lifecycle (from production of raw materials through manufacture, use and disposal of the final product) are respected and enhanced economically, socially, culturally and physically; and
Continued economic viability does not depend on ever-increasing (i.e., unsustainable) consumption of materials and energy. Lowell Center for Sustainable Production ca 1999.
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The Natural Step Four System Conditions
Substances from the Earth's crust must not systematically increase in nature. (Fossil fuels, metals, and other minerals cannot be extracted at a faster rate than their re-deposit back into the Earth’s crust)
Substances produced by society must not systematically increase in nature. (Things like plastics, ozone-depleting chemicals, carbon dioxide, waste materials, etc. must not be produced at a faster rate than they can be broken down in nature. This requires a greatly decreased production of naturally occurring substances that are systematically accumulating beyond natural levels, and a phase-out of persistent human-made substances not found in nature.)
The physical basis for productivity and diversity of nature must not be systematically diminished. (We cannot harvest or manipulate ecosystems in such a way as to diminish their productive capacity, or threaten the natural diversity of life forms (biodiversity). This requires that we critically examine how we harvest renewable resources, and adjust our consumption and land-use practices to fall well within the regenerative capacities of ecosystems.)
We must be fair and efficient in meeting basic human needs. (Basic human needs must be met with the most resource-efficient methods possible, including a just resource distribution.) Natural Step. ca 1999
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Sustainable Business:
Replace nationally and internationally produced items with products created locally and regionally.
Take responsibility for the effects they have on the natural world.
Do not require exotic sources of capital in order to develop and grow.
Engage in production processes that are human, worthy, dignified, and intrinsically satisfying.
Create objects of durability and long-term utility whose ultimate use or disposition will not be harmful to future generations.
Change consumers to customers through education. Paul Hawken. The Ecology of Commerce. 1993
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We must put behind us, decisively and forever, the notion that our economy functions in a vacuum, sealed from society and the natural world. Our wealth is our total capital – social, natural, and financial. We must not make decisions based on narrow measurements. Instead, we must understand and track our total capital, adopt an integrated, long-term view of our region’s wealth, and keep the whole picture in focus. Sierra Business Council ca 1995
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Sustainable development involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental quality and social equity. Companies aiming for sustainability need to perform not against a single, financial bottom line but against the triple bottom line. Over time, human and social values change. Concepts that once seemed extraordinary (e.g. emancipating slaves, enfranchising women) are now taken for granted. New concepts (e.g. responsible consumerism, environmental justice, intra- and inter-generational equity) are now coming up the curve. World Business Council on Sustainable Development ca 1995