Sustainability Matters

Assisting business achieve a tomorrow for tomorrow's children

Some Thoughts

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"In nature nothing is wasted" (A fundamental observation from time immemorial.)

"Nature cannot cope with the rate of evolutionary change forced on it by mankind - we all depend on nature"

A question of "Here today, Where tomorrow?"  (Title of a discussion paper prepared by the Pacific Rim Institute of Sustainable Management and Stephen Knight for Sustainable New Zealand, November 2000.)

"Doing more with less" (Natural Capitalism - Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, Paul Hawkin, Amory B. Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins, 1999.)

Sustainability issues affect all forms of life; they are not confined to humanity. There is an increasing awareness mankind is the cause of the most profound issues faced by the planet.

"More and more people are using more and more of what there is less and less of" (The Ecology of Commerce, A Declaration of Sustainability, Paul Hawken, 1993.)

"Then I say the earth belongs to each ... generation during its course fully and in its own right, no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence" (Thomas Jefferson, 6 September 1789.)

An article  published in the January/February 2008 issue of Orion magazine commenced a discussion about seeking an appropriate word which embraces concepts such as 'environment', 'ecology', 'sustainability', 'conservation' and 'green'.  "For decades these words and a handful of others have anchored the movement for a more sensible treatment of land, water, air, and nonhuman life. It's hard to picture where the effort to protect nature would be without these words." 

My contibution was; "It seems to me all words used in this huge area become over-used, misused, misunderstood, abused and so on.  My area of interest is focussed on ‘sustainability’ in the hope participants endeavour to consider and act on all the complex inter-related and interdependent issues holistically; nothing is an island.  Some time ago I ‘played around’ with the ideas of Cultural, Environmental, Social and Economic i.e. the core components of ‘sustainability’ and came up with the acronym CESE.  When spoken it sounds like “See, easy”.  It could be easy; often-times it is not.  To me it has a ring of ‘positivity’ and even fun about it.  Periodically I wonder if the idea has any merit."

Words or concepts suggested, among others, include;

Community, compassion, economical, interconnected, living life with gratitude, love, non-violence, re-balancing, reciprocity, responsibility, stewardship.

The full discussion is at Orion's web site.