Defining Sustainability

"A lifestyle less selfish."

"A new way of considering what everyone does and how they do it."

"Consumption which is more caring of ones own health, Earth’s health, and the health of others."

"Protecting the biosphere to minimize human suffering and to achieve human and ecosystem longevity and well-being."

The above statements are all different ways for explaining how to act in a sustainable manner. Yes, sustainability has got a lot to do with us - our choices and our actions - and how this all relates with others and with the natural environment.

It seems getting adults to agree on a definition of sustainability is asking too much. Individuals and groups keep trying, but no one has hammered out a definition that everybody accepts.

However, an internationally recognised definition does exist. It comes from the 1983 landmark Bruntland Report, where sustainability is explained as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

If we accept this definition, it’s important that we can really recognise the difference between needs and wants.

Needs and Wants

Different people have different needs and different wants; they will also perceive needs and wants in different ways.

A need is something you have to have, something you can’t do without.

A good example is food. If you don’t eat, you won’t survive for long. Many people have gone days without eating, but they eventually ate a lot of food. You might not need a whole lot of food, but you do need to eat.

A want is something you would like to have. It is not absolutely necessary, but it would be a good thing to have.

A good example is music. But you don’t need music to survive. You do need to eat.

Our needs and our wants are often determined by the places and contexts in which we live, work and play. Simultaneously, the products and services we use are determined by these needs and wants and, in turn, our use of these products and services will impact on the different places and contexts where we function.

We must not forget that these contexts are not comprised only of natural materials or human built structures or technology. Humans are generally present or involved. Therefore, decisions which we make when it comes to using products and services also impact other human beings directly and indirectly.

Some basic needs are common to all humans: food, water, shelter, education, health care. But the world has not reached a stage yet where these basic needs are available to all humans equally. Equity in the distribution of the world’s resources is still a challenge. Some wants by people in developed countries are jeopardising the needs of people in less developed countries. Teenagers in Europe may want a vast wardrobe of clothes to choose from for their Saturday outing, but in doing so they may be depriving Sri Lankan children of longer hours at school because they need to go to work in the cotton fields instead to produce more raw material. Patrons of fast food restaurants in Europe might really enjoy the very long and slim French fries with their meal, but they do not realise that in a distant country families have converted their fields to grow the right type of potato for these fries, sometimes with negative consequences for their livelihood.