Is Sustainability More Than A Meaningless Buzzword?

When talking about sustainability numerous people associate it with just protecting the environment. Sustainability is far more than going green, but it is a principle that many companies have adopted and have worked persistently to improve over the last several years. Sustainability is defined as the ability to continue a behavior indeterminately, but it also includes improving human life overall. Sustainable development is broken down into three pillars: economic, social, and environmental (Harich & Bangerter, 2014). Economics is the study of how people use resources, which correlates to the goal of sustainable development by using resources to their full potential (Laszlo, C., & Zhexembayeva, N., 2011, p. 60). Economic sustainable development allows companies to give their customers what they want without overusing mutual resources. Social development combines the social world with the physical realm to provide a good quality of life (Benoit, 2010, p. 7). Social sustainability focuses on the well-being of people and their communities. Environmental development, the most recognizable, includes protecting the environment by reducing pollution, recycling, switching of electronic devices when not in use, etc. All three of these pillars make up what is known as sustainable development. In this paper, I researched a company and their involvement in sustainability and how it applies to the

Although there is no formal definition for the term, individuals have tried to define sustainability according to their function or area of study. The term “sustainability,” once an obscure ecological concept, has now been adopted by many in the business world to connote the principles of social and environmental responsibility (Joseph Fiksel, Jonathan Low and Jim Thomas). Further, sustainability can be seen through the eyes of business as a way to create value. More likely than not, the term sustainability can be linked to the ability of decreasing costs, wastes and inefficiencies. According to the vice president of General Electric,

In order to preserve our resources, environmentalists use the concept of sustainable development-sustainable development is a development that satisfies our current needs without compromising the future availability of natural resources, or our future quality of life. Our consumption rates have risen significantly higher; according to the World Watch Institute, and their article The State of Consumption Today, the rate has gone up thirty-five percent, and we are now ecologically at risk. Nevertheless, who can we blame but

The environment is among some of the top issues to be looked upon by the human population in the world today. Sustainability is a word often times used when speaking of this subject. This is a concept represented in the articles “Sustainability” by Christian R. Weisser and “Attention Whole Foods Shoppers” by Robert Paarlberg. Each author addresses the issue in different ways; one giving examples of this issue and the other clearly defining it. Each author is writing to spread awareness of this issue. As overlapping topics, each article has similarities and differences to the other.

As environmental and suitability movements continue to evolve and grow, the importance of bringing society from a state of awareness to one of consciousness is key to their long term success. Finding a way for people to have an emotional connection and reaction to the issues that face our world today as they relate to sustainability will likely be the turning point for more universal support and

The word ‘sustainable’ has been chosen as a second criterion, as the philosophy sets out to be

Sustainability is a concern, which has only been arising from the impact we humans have done in the past couple of decades. The word sustainability means how long you can continue doing what you are doing without coming to an end (Sustainability 2015).

One of the most vigorously debated topics is the issue of sustainability. These include climate change, overpopulation, pollution, and ignorance to the damage being done to the environment. The climate that all living things have come to rely upon is changing because of global warming. Today, sustainability has become a focal point and a significant part of life. Sustainability is defined as the ability to meet current environmental, ecological, economics, social and cultural needs without risking the ability of future generations to meet those same needs. What does the Best American Science Wtg. 2014 teach us about sustainability, and what makes the paradigm shift to a sustainable planet? These different authors explain with example how sustainability can be achieved and also the different points of views that exist. “TV as birth control,” by Fred Pearce, “Why the brain prefers paper,” by Ferris Jabrs, “Bringing them back to life,” by Carl Zimmer and “A race to save the orange by altering its DNA”, by Amy Harmon’s – reveals that cultural sustainability involves efforts to preserve the actual and evasive cultural elements of sociality such as heritage, educational opportunities and public policies, in way that promote environmental, economic and social sustainability.

The environment is important to protect considering that people live and breathe in the atmosphere it provides. Investing time in activities that protect the environment hasn’t always been a priority, but as greenhouse gas emissions, the use of energy, and other harmful impacts on the environment increased, individuals began to speak up on what should be done. As the world’s population continues to grow exponentially, the impacts society produces will in turn continue to increase unless something is done about it. Although the idea of an environmentally sustainable community has remained on the minds of the concerned public throughout the past decade, as companies and universities became more invested in the idea, new ways of taking action and implementing policies were developed and pursued.

The concept of “sustainability” is a vital part of our society. Herndl compares sustainability to the concept of freedom “As you might expect, it is not easy to define a concept that

Regardless of what one thinks about American consumerism or our high levels of production, it is a fact that we live in a throw-away society. What that means is that we produce a lot, throw away a lot, and most things are planned to become obsolete within a few years. Recently, there has been an unprecedented effort to correct these negatives habits of our society, seeing as they can’t last forever. This effort, aptly called sustainability, is one of the most grandiose undertakings in American society today. Universities, corporations, households, and everything in-between, are all striving towards sustainability, but what actually is it? According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, “To pursue sustainability is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations” (EPA). With such a broad definition, there are plenty of critics and skeptics that say that such a proposition is too idealistic and therefore impossible. In fact, I agree with that faction and acknowledge that with such a loose definition, it will never be truly possible to be sustainable. However, my rebuttal, as it seems natural to say, is that nearly everything we do or strive for in America is, in a way, too idealistic. From that, I assert that we need to make a deliberate effort, as both consumers and producers, to work towards sustainability to move away from our throw-away tendencies.

Sustainability is a word that seems to be constantly popping up around us. But I suppose that’s to be expected when we live in a time period where sustainability is essential for our survival as our planet continues to fall down in a spiral of destruction, poverty and war. So why is sustainability such a difficult thing for people to do? Why doesn’t everybody make a little effort to make a big difference? I presume part of the reason is people don’t know how they can help. How can me, one person, in this 7 billion populated planet make a difference? I believe the first place to start is to be taught about the problems we face surrounding sustainability, or more correctly, the problems we are going to continue to face if we

There are many ways to define sustainability and to answer the question of whether we live in a sustainable society you should first define the question. The simplest definition of what a sustainable society is still very complex. A society that can persist over generations, one that is farseeing enough, flexible enough, and wise enough not to undermine either its physical or its social systems of support (Hubbard, 1996).

Sustainability is a topic that has become very important in recent years. Sustainability is defined as, “the ability to continue a defined behavior indefinitely.” ("Finding and Resolving the Root Causes of the Sustainability Problem", 2014)

Many people believe that the Sustainable Revolution began with concern for the environment. The way we portray our relation to the natural world has changed since the times of Thoreau and Emerson. The E for environment