The products, services, and conveniences that we enjoy as a culture are derived from resources, materials, and products furnished by the earth. The earth has limited resources such as oil, minerals, water, and ecosystems that are being depleted at a rate faster than they can be replaced in order to meet the continued demands of human industrial and population growth. To continue on this unsustainable course is not an option for our species or for the planet. The challenge is then how we can reset the imbalance from a historic viewpoint of human vs. nature to an integrated balance, a “collective” between homeo sapiens and nature.
With this in mind, sustainability seeks to look forward to secure the needs of future generations. Sustainability is generally defined as meeting human needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Put another way, sustainability is the capability of maintaining a society that prospers while preserving social justice, and without compromising the environment.
Unfortunately, there are almost as many definitions of sustainability as there are practitioners in the field. Even so, several key bodies of knowledge have heavily influenced our thinking. Click the topics at left for summaries of key principles that guide our work.
©2008 Sustainnovation Consulting, Inc.
