What is Sustainability?

courtesy: www.naturalstep.org

1.Reduce and eventually eliminate our contribution to the systematic accumulation of materials from the earth’s crust. This means substituting our use of certain minerals that are scarce in nature with others that are more abundant, using all mined materials efficiently and systematically reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

2. Reduce and eliminate our contribution to the systematic accumulation of substances produced by society. This means systematically substituting certain persistent and unnatural compounds with ones that are normally abundant or break down more easily in nature, and using all substances produced by society efficiently.

3. Reduce and eliminate our contribution to the ongoing physical degradation of nature. This means drawing resources only from well-managed eco-systems, systematically pursuing the most productive and efficient use of those resources and land and exercising caution in all kinds of modifications of nature, such as over-harvesting and the introduction of invasive species.

4. Reduce and eliminate our contribution to conditions that systematically undermine people’s ability to meet their basic needs. This means offering products and services and changing practices, suppliers, and business models to those that ensure that human rights are respected, living wages are paid, safe and healthy work environments are provided and living conditions allow local communities to meet the needs of citizens.