“Sustainability. It has become a big buzz word. What does it mean? Well, entire international delegations have spent weeks trying to agree upon a definition,” he grimaced, “but they’re still no closer. The point being, Sustainability can mean a wide variety of things, and can mean different things to different listeners. Most definitions have something to do with balance: the inputs equaling the outputs, the flow is balanced. The things we use are taken out of the planet no faster than the planet can make more. That could be timber forests, fresh water, soil particles, clean air ..."
-- character Ari in chapter 3 of Legacy
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
-- United Nations Division for Sustainable Development
"improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems."
-- United Nations Environment Programme
"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
The Sustainable Measures webpage includes a diverse selection of definitions for Sustainability.
Joanne Poyourow's ponderings of Sustainability:
"Use Sustainability as your Yardstick" (summary pdf)
"Use Sustainability as your Yardstick" (older version)
"Self-Sufficiency versus Sustainability"
Joanne's novel Legacy imagines society's transformation as we reorient our cultural direction toward Sustainability.
Photo credit: Santa Monica Pier 1 by Jhezie Lim, Lakewood, CA.
