How Sustainable Am I
‘How Sustainable Am I’
Sustainable Development is a "hot" topic these days and sustainable related change is all around us. Many people struggle though with the question on "how can I make a change to improve the health of our planet?" Our society is clearly in a new state of thinking with respect to the important topic of sustainability and I like to believe that I 'm playing my role, but how sustainable am I really? In order to answer that question it obviously is crucial to first clearly define sustainable development and understand how important it is.
To define the term sustainability I did what probably everyone would do, I did research and got thousands of different definitions. Certainly, defining sustainability is a tough assignment and to also make it personal and meaningful to myself is a challenge on its own. However I did find a simple, yet often quoted definition that certainly appeals to me: “Sustainability is our common future" (Brundltland Report 1987). Sustainable Development is the process to achieve sustainability and can be defined as a way of economic growth in which the use of resources meet today 's needs of people, while at the same time preserving the environment so that resource needs can also meet the needs for future generations. Michael Thomas Needham referred to 'Sustainable Development ' "as the ability to meet the needs of the present while contributing to the future generations’ needs."[3] It is pretty clear that there is a big focus on the present generation’s responsibility to improve the future generation’s life by restoring the damage at the ecosystem and by preventing further damage. Now we know what sustainable development is, let 's find the key reasons why this is so important.
One of the biggest consequences of the way we live today is global warming, which will lead to problems, such as sea level rising and air pollution. Air pollution is often referred to as "carbon footprint". We can actually measure
Sustainable Development is a "hot" topic these days and sustainable related change is all around us. Many people struggle though with the question on "how can I make a change to improve the health of our planet?" Our society is clearly in a new state of thinking with respect to the important topic of sustainability and I like to believe that I 'm playing my role, but how sustainable am I really? In order to answer that question it obviously is crucial to first clearly define sustainable development and understand how important it is.
To define the term sustainability I did what probably everyone would do, I did research and got thousands of different definitions. Certainly, defining sustainability is a tough assignment and to also make it personal and meaningful to myself is a challenge on its own. However I did find a simple, yet often quoted definition that certainly appeals to me: “Sustainability is our common future" (Brundltland Report 1987). Sustainable Development is the process to achieve sustainability and can be defined as a way of economic growth in which the use of resources meet today 's needs of people, while at the same time preserving the environment so that resource needs can also meet the needs for future generations. Michael Thomas Needham referred to 'Sustainable Development ' "as the ability to meet the needs of the present while contributing to the future generations’ needs."[3] It is pretty clear that there is a big focus on the present generation’s responsibility to improve the future generation’s life by restoring the damage at the ecosystem and by preventing further damage. Now we know what sustainable development is, let 's find the key reasons why this is so important.
One of the biggest consequences of the way we live today is global warming, which will lead to problems, such as sea level rising and air pollution. Air pollution is often referred to as "carbon footprint". We can actually measure