I love looking at the roots of words. The word sustainability is derived from the Latin sustinere (tenere, to hold; sus, up). While it has a unique legal application (to sustain or approve/uphold in terms of laws and/or previous legal decisions), the noun, defined in terms of enduring, maintaining, supporting, continuing... has been used synonymously with the environmental movement since the 1980s. According to the 1987 United Nations Report of the World Commission on Environmental Development: Our Common Future <http://www.un-documents.net/ocf-02.htm> “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." I personally consider the UN definition to be a great mission statement but hard to pin down as a definition... what does "needs" mean and who in each generation gets to decide what is needed? In 2005, the World Summit refined the concept by proposing three mutually reinforcing focus areas - environment, social equity, and economic demands - the three pillars of sustainability. I see the logic of the triple bottom line, working within society's predominant structure to create partnerships and tempting carrots to further drive the environmental transition forwards... At the same time, I struggle. How will supply and demand "fix" the fact that “the biosphere is finite, nongrowing, closed (except for the constant input of solar energy), and constrained by the laws of thermodynamics” [Herman Daly, former World Bank economist]. We use the resources of three worlds but only live on Earth. I briefly considered pursing a masters degree in economics to better understand... but then decided to stick on my environmental engineering/planning/policy route. I'll leave the theory for others.
Homo erectus currently thrives with the help of science and technology! What we seek to point out through the sustainability/environmental movement is that our amazing modern society is based on a 5,000 year loan from the Earth... and we have an exponentially growing interest rate. I personally believe that humanity's loan will be called in the next generation or two. Environmental bankruptcies will take place and the crash will be more painful than any downturn experienced to date. I only hope that our forward momentum in understanding of the nature of our loan (carbon tracking, trash gyre mapping, renewable energy studies, rain forest renewal, etc) will allow us to start rapidly making payments to mitigate the long term pay-off curve. We can innovate out of disaster, provided a basic understanding of what we have to work with, and an opportunity to practice and gain the wisdom needed for that coming difficult time.
Home-grown sustainable communities are cropping up across the world, as are home gardens, use of organic foods, upcycled materials, local business initiatives... and so much more. Social media is slowly pulling sustainability out of the academic heights and impassioned extremes of society to every man, woman, and child. As we celebrate each success, we need to re-dedicate ourselves to the process - Our personal convenant with the Earth for personal sustainability and environmental endurance for one and all.
Here's to the heart and the spirit needed to sustain, endure and thrive!
I have a set of personal practices and believe systems towards sustainability. Over the last few months (and years) my beliefs have been challenged by friends, loved ones, co-workers, etc. I have been asked to defend personal position(s) on water use, construction management, land use management, and so many other issues. With each debate I have re-evaluated my CORE Beliefs. In some cases I found a weakend foundation and have had to start re-casting myself from the bottom up. This blog is part of that process for me.
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