What does sustainable mean?

In the U.S. and Canada, many residential builders use the word “sustainable” as a synonym for “green.” We hear about sustainable development, sustainable homes, and sustainable building products.

Now that the word “sustainable” has become ubiquitous — even at the GreenBuildingAdvisor Web site, where a new $736,000 home on the coast of Maine is described as a “sustainable spec house” — it’s time to take a step back and consider the word’s history.

It is really important to separate the green from the greenwash as we proceed down a path of improving our planet. Otherwise, we won’t improve it! Can we find sustainability within an opulent western lifestyle? I think we can, if we know what it means first. Plus sustainability means it will require a broad social movement, with people from all walks of life buying into the idea that sustainable is not bad for us, that we do not have to have less to be sustainable. Actually, we will end up having less, but we won’t mind because we will have chosen to have less.

Lets break down the word “sustainable”.

Every time I hear  some green expert use the word “sustainable,” I cringe. As typically used, the word is self-serving, self-congratulatory, and deeply insulting to the world’s poor. So unless we’re talking about forestry or fisheries, let’s avoid using the word altogether.

Lets use a house, for example.
Considering the twin crises of Third-World poverty and global warming, who knows what a “sustainable” house would look like? If the house measures 400 square feet and includes cold running water, a single light bulb, and a toilet, it would be a huge step up the ladder for much of the world’s population. Unfortunately, achieving that goal would probably strain global resources to the breaking point.

I don’t believe that every American needs to live in a shack out of solidarity with the world’s poor. But it’s important to be honest. Our lifestyle is clearly unsustainable. As long as we’re moving in the right direction — that is, beginning to lessen the adverse environmental impacts of our lifestyle choices — there isn’t any shame in living an unsustainable lifestyle. But as we struggle to move toward a new future of improved global equity and environmental balance, let’s avoid the temptation to pat ourselves on the back.

Is the U.S. lifestyle “sustainable”?

For those of us living in North America, it’s easy to lose perspective when considering an appropriate definition for a “sustainable” lifestyle. About one-third of the world’s population eats fewer calories than necessary for health, defecates outdoors, and has no access to clean drinking water, electricity, or a telephone. At the same time, about 80% of the world’s resources are consumed by 20% of the world’s population. Yup, that means us.

As Himalayan glaciers shrink and huge chunks of Antarctic ice crash into the ocean, Americans continue to consume a disproportionate share of the earth’s resources. Our lifestyle clearly threatens the stability of the planet’s climate. We already have too many cars, too many televisions, too many swimming pools, and too many houses.