Sustainability is a Lifestyle

The word “sustainable” is tossed around frequently today and can be applied to many aspects of modern life, but let’s take a closer look at it and its meaning. According to the dictionary definition, for something to be sustainable, it must be able to maintain its own viability by using techniques that allow for continual reuse.

For centuries, civilized man has been applying the definition of sustainability to everything that we do in our day-to-day lives: the way we earn money, the way we refuel our bodies, and the way in which we seek friendships and other relationships. So why is it that we are now only using “sustainability” as a means of measuring whether a certain action or task that we want to pursue passes this threshold?

Well, the answer lies in the conscious effort to make sustainability a part of all facets of our lives. This precedence is now used in common business practices, mandates for most global corporations, even trickle down to what we eat and wear. Most recently, “sustainability,” as an action has been attracting global media coverage because some of the world’s largest corporations are shifting mandates to ensure this criterion is instilled into everyday business rather than just a section of it.

Have you ever heard the question, “Is that a sustainable solution?” Common practice suggests that our intentions have put the application into perspective, and it must be applicable to all things we do. Why? Because if we want to have a planet for our children’s children to live on, we must do something NOW! That is, we must all play a conscious role in contributing to this effort. When people hear the word sustainable, they relate to the energy industry by default, but this shift that is occurring around the world makes all things we do measure up to be sustainable.

Simple measures—such as how our businesses are run, how are agriculture is grown and where our clothing is manufactured—are aspects of our lives that are now included in facets of sustainability. As 2012 arrives, the survival of our planet depends on the exponential role of our transition and applications to a sustainable future. If you haven’t already asked yourself, take a minute and think, where can I begin to create my sustainable future?

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