To Explain Sustain

The term “sustainability” might seem a bit long and intimidating for some people, but its meaning in itself is not all that complicated. Of course it has some connotational and ideological baggage to carry around, that may be lost or mixed up when checked, but it can all be sorted out with some patience and diligence. By simply looking it up in a dictionary, one would find that to sustain simply means to support, hold up, and/or provide for. Sustainability then refers to one thing’s ability to sustain another thing, but the problem with sustainability is that in its modern definition it is an impossible goal.

The word sustain originates from the period between 1250 and 1300 A.D. from the Archaic French word “sustenir” and the Latin word “sustinēre”, both of which mean to uphold or endure. This is still, more or less, the accepted basic definition of the word. However, in the midst of our environmental crisis the word sustainable has come to hold a much larger, grimmer meaning. In the light of our issues with fossil fuels, renewable resources and greenhouse gases, the term sustainability has arrived at its modern definition, which is a way of living that will preserve the ability of our future generations to live like we do. It is the sustaining, or upholding or enduring, of Earth and our environment in its present, fruitful state. It refers to our human society’s ability to sustain a safe way of living that will preserve the earth.

Although the environmental crisis at hand is certainly important, the word sustainability should not lose its identity to the cause. The word itself still means simply to uphold, endure, support, or provide for. When used in correlation to the environmental crisis, rather than saying just sustainability, we need to be more precise and rather specifically say environmental sustainability. Sure, it’s much longer, but it needs to be done to achieve the necessary clarity. Many times it is simple laziness that corrupts the true meaning of words. On the EPA’s website, this is how they describe sustainability: “The traditional definition of sustainability calls for polices and strategies that meet society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It should be obvious to anyone that that is in no way a “traditional” definition for sustainability. That is indeed a definition of environmental sustainability.

Unfortunately, the continued ambiguous association of the word with the environmental crisis has even given it a bad rap. Due of its close relation to the ideas of environmental damage and some other reasons I haven’t discussed yet, the concept has a rather ominous aura about it. However, one must realize that it should be exactly the opposite. Environmental sustainability is a solution, a positive stance on the environmental crisis. It is a way of living that ensures the safety of our beautiful planet, with its fully functioning, all nurturing ecosystems and natural resources. Here’s the catch. In order to completely sustain our earth in its pristine state, humans would have to live with the bare necessities our earth provides us. We would have to take only what we need and nothing more; there is no place for want and greed.

Herein lies the problem, because humans suck, and no matter what we do we will never be able to prevent people from behaving in such greedy, wasteful manners, no matter how big or small, that will eventually lead to the destruction of our environment. This simple fact is what leads to the impossible nature of perfect sustainability and in turn the negative feelings associated with it that I mentioned earlier. However, the realization that it is an ultimately unachievable goal is no reason to be so negative about it. It remains the only way to preserve our earth for as long as we can, so we need to make it a positive idea that people will support.

Fortunately, the effort to make people more aware of environmental sustainability and its benefits is being made daily by American government agencies like the EPA and other environmental groups. They actively work to educate people about the idea of environmental sustainability and work with scientists towards more efficient ways to use earth’s resources. According to the EPA, “The 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) formally established as a national goal the creation and maintenance of conditions under which humans and nature ‘can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans’.”So the EPA has been working for 30 years now to spread the message of environmental sustainability to the American people in order to help us live less wastefully and help to preserve our environment.

The term sustainability has been turned into more than one concept by its close relationship with the global environmental crisis. It has become two different concepts, sustainability and environmental sustainability, which each require their own definition. Quite simply, sustainability is, and always has been, the ability of something to sustain, or uphold, endure, or support, something else. On the other hand, environmental sustainability is a strategy, policy, or way of living that is meant to preserve our ability to meet our needs, as well as future generation’s abilities to meet their needs through planet earth. It is a solution for our environmental crisis that, while ultimately imperfect, presents our best chance to preserve our earth for as long as we possibly can. As such it should carry a positive connotation, rather than the dismal undertone it carries now. Of course people associate it with environmental destruction and the end of world, but it is a way of preventing those things, or at least delaying them for a very, very long time. Environmental sustainability is our key to life.