Sustainability

A widely accepted definition of sustainability is to "...Making sure the current generation can meet its needs while at the same time making sure future generations can meet their needs...Progress should not come at the expense of future generations by warming the climate, reducing bio-diversity, depleting forests, increasing pollution, or reducing the resource base. All change should be in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations..." (Brundtland Commission, 1987). In other word sustainability is the capacity to endure, it is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which in turn depends on the wellbeing of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources.Sustainability is not solely about environmental stewardship, although many people associate the term with the environment.

Today we have approximately 6.8 billion people on Earth. Americans consume more per person than any other country on the planet. It is always important to find new ways of reducing resource consumption and ensuring equitable access to resources if we are to avoid dramatic environmental degradation and resource-driven political conflicts.

Three pillars of sustainability are social, environmental, and economic. Social pillar covers standards of living, community, and equal opportunity. Environmental pillar is actually a environmental management and pollution control. And the third pillar is economics, which covers profit, cost savings, R & D and economic growth. The three pillars of sustainability are not mutually exclusive and can be mutually reinforcing