We Must Look At The Triple Bottom Line Approach

The most commonly used definition of sustainable development is still that given in the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987), i.e. sustainable development is ‘a process to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ Sustainable development is therefore about creating a better life for all people in ways that will be as viable in the future as they are at present. In other words, sustainable development is based on principles of sound husbandry of the world’s resources, and on equity in the way those resources are used and in the way in which the benefits obtained from them are distributed (Making Tourism More Sustainable, 2005).

Sustainability relates to the ongoing capacity of Earth to maintain all life, which means developing ways to ensure that all resources on Earth are used and managed responsibly so they can be maintained for future generations.

Sustainability describes how well someone or something is able to thrive and survive. It also can apply to humans, in which there are three general ideas. First is environmental, which is how well humans can help the earth. Second, is economic, which states that everybody deserves the right to make money.

The concept of Social Sustainability encompasses such topics as: social equity, livability, health equity, community development, social capital, social support, human rights, labor rights, social responsibility, social justice, cultural competence, community resilience, diplomacy, cooperation and human adaptation(Ghahramanpouri, Lamit& Sedaghatnia, 2013). Social sustainability occurs when the formal and informal processes; systems; structures; and relationships actively support the capacity of current and future generations to create healthy and livable communities. Socially sustainable communities are equitable, diverse, connected and democratic and provide a good quality of life(Spangenberg, & Omann, 2006).

A major part of living sustainably is using clean and renewable energy sources for as much as possible.(3) Wind, water, and the sun all provide an alternative to fossil fuels which harm the environment through carbon emissions and pollution. Sources such as oil and natural gas can not be replenished quickly, where as solar energy or hydropower can be harvested regularly with little to no effect on the environment. One way to become green in everyday life is to make your home sustainable.(4) A sustainable home should be constructed of recycled or natural, environmentally friendly materials, and renewable energy sources should be utilized. Its important that the construction process as well as the building itself impacts the surrounding environment as little as possible. In addition to living in a sustainable home, eating green can reduce the impact on the natural world. Because the meat production industry uses so many resources and can often harm the environment through waste pollution, many people who eat sustainably decide to be vegetarian. Organic and locally grown vegetables are far better for the sustainable movement compared to factory farm produce due to pesticides used and the negative effect factory farming can have on soil composition and erosion.(3) Even with a sustainable personal life, work takes up much of society’s time and sustainable practices should be brought to

Governments, environmental agencies, and corporations alike have utilized the term “sustainability” in order to convey their respective agendas for general sustainability in environmental, social, and economic realms. In spite of their initiatives, there has yet to be a generally agreed upon, uniform definition for “sustainability.” This lack of semantic clarity has promoted skepticism among some parties, skepticism primarily focused in the legitimacy of sustainability agendas, as well as the idea of sustainability in itself (Context & Development, 1992). This essay seeks to inspect the concepts of sustainability generated by two

There is no one best definition for sustainability. The simplest and most fundamental meaning would be “the ability to sustain” or otherwise “the capacity to endure”. It can also be defined as a need for our generation to manage the resources base efficiently so that the average quality of life that we ensure ourselves can potentially be shared by all future generations.

Sustainable development is defined as “Development that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (IISD, par. 1 ).

The term sustainability conveys to me the idea of something permanent or long term. Most people probably think of sustainability in an environmental context, related to issues such as, global warming, pollution and overpopulation. While the aspect of the environment is of crucial importance I think however, that sustainability needs to be looked at in a broader sense and include factors such as, social, political and economic aspects. According to Laasch and Conway (2015), sustainability is the level to which any state has the ability to sustain the three forms of capital which are social, economic and environmental depending on the conversation’s context, Laasch et al., (2015). Edward Barbier (as cited in Laasch et al., 2015) strongly emphasised the importance of social,

We must act urgently and follow a sustainable way of life. It means living a lifestyle that uses as few reserves as possible and claims the minimum amount of environmental harm for future generations to deal with. There are many different ways of sustainable living, since the approach can apply to almost each part of daily life, for example living in energy efficient buildings, use of renewable energy sources, less use of motor vehicles, save water, consume organic and locally produced foods, live a vegetarian lifestyle and reduce wastage.

Whereas sustainability is defined by the environment, economy, society and the fairness between inter and intra-generations are all interlinked and have impacts on each other. So there is a need for provision when we are unsure of the impacts of decisions. Sustainability could also be defined as the

Sustainable practices are new and have not been implemented in a lot of places but people are catching on. The basic sustainable practices of the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle, also with the practices of conserving, educating, and implementing these are important for future generations. With such fast development over the past hundred year, resources are becoming scarce. Despite the efforts through laws for minimizing the consequences of rapid industrialization, like for example the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, typically only higher socio-economic status communities have a better chance of implementing sustainable practices like installing solar panels and applying waste reduction

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)

Sustainability is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations” (Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future 1987). The concept of sustainability comprises of four pillars: environmental; economic; political and social; as can be seen in the image below. Environmental sustainability is the use and management of the environment in a way that it does not deplete our finite resources. Economic sustainability is a long term sustainable economy that supports its community and political sustainability is the collaboration of different bodies of government to achieve a sustainable future. Now social sustainability is hard to define as it encapsulates many different factors; however to be very broad it is to achieve social justice. The real objective for sustainability is that all four pillars work together equally in a precautionary principle;

The concept of sustainable development has become a major topic among intellectuals from various fields. Sustainable development has gone through various changes in its definitions and at present does not have a commonly accepted definition. The origination of the concept of sustainable development is debatable. In 1974 at a conference on Science and Technology for Human Development by the World Council of Churches the concept of a “sustainable society” is believed to have been first noted. This early concept focused on equitable distribution of scarce resources and the need for democratic decision making. In 1980 the currently used term of sustainable development emerged in the