Sustainability is a general principle that espouses conservation of resources and integrating human needs with those of the rest of the planet.

Sustainability is often used synonymously with "sustainable development," though some people point out that while the two terms are similar, sustainability represents a broader concept. Still, economic development is generally paramount in both ideas, as a benchmark for measuring success. In other words, sustainability doesn't mean not using resources, but rather using them according to practices that ensure future generations will be able to use them too; it means allowing human societies to thrive while doing as little harm as possible to the planet and its other inhabitants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's definition of sustainability illustrates this point: "the ability to achieve continuing economic prosperity while protecting the natural systems of the planet and providing a high quality of life for its people."

Sustainability is more of a qualitative concept than a quantitative measurement, but one team of researchers has begun developing a metric. The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) was developed by the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network at Columbia University to analyze different countries' ability to protect their environments over the coming decades. The Index measures 76 different variables including water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, population growth, and natural resource management. In the 2005 Index, Scandinavian countries occupied four of the top five spots (the other in the group was Uruguay), while the United States ranked 45th-below Panama, Congo, Slovenia, and other countries not necessarily known for their resource conservation.

Context

Like many modern environmental concepts, sustainability took shape in the second half of the 20th century, gaining momentum with the growing environmental consciousness in the 1960s. Today it is seen as both a revolution and an inevitable next stage for humanity-akin to the industrial revolution, but in many ways that period's polar opposite.

In its policymaking usage, sustainability has retained its holistic meaning, and it is an important concept and goal for development. But elsewhere, particularly in marketing products and services to an American public increasingly concerned about the environment, the label "sustainable" is often applied indiscriminately.

Additional Resources

EPA sustainability pages

Environmental Sustainability Index

United Nations Division for Sustainable Development

The Could Institute for Sustainability Education

Books

The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift by Andres R. Edwards

Living Green: A Practical Guide to Simple Sustainability by Greg Horn

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins