What does sustainable mean ?
Sustainability is the ability to exist constantly. In the 21st century, it refers generally to the capacity for the biosphere and human civilization to coexist. It is also defined as the process of people maintaining change in a homeostasis balanced environment, in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.
Sustainability can also be defined as a socio-ecological process characterized by the pursuit of a common ideal. An ideal is by definition unattainable in a given time and space. However, by persistently and dynamically approaching it, the process results in a sustainable system. The study of ecology believes that sustainability is achieved through the balance of species and the resources within their environment. In order to maintain this equilibrium, available resources must not be depleted faster than resources are naturally generated.
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Sustainable Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. The Goals interconnect and in order to leave no one behind, it ís important that we achieve each Goal and target by 2030.
Modern use of the term sustainability is broad and difficult to define precisely. Originally, sustainability meant making only such use of natural, renewable resources that people can continue to rely on their yields in the long term. The concept of sustainability, or Nachhaltigkeit in German, can be traced back to Hans Carl von Carlowitz (1645–1714), and was applied to forestry.
Sustainable products
Sustainable products are those products that provide environmental, social and economic benefits while protecting public health and environment over their whole life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials until the final disposal.
Sustainable product standards
Overall standards
Nordic Swan Ecolabel The standard of Nordic Swan Ecolabel, which is distributed in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, mainly refers to distinguish products that have a positive effect on the environment. Or rather, it has climate requirements that limit the amount of CO2 emissions where it is most relevant. More than 3,000 products, mainly household chemicals, paper products, office machinery and building materials have been issued with this label. The criteria account environmental factors through the product’s life cycle (raw material extraction, production and distribution, use and refuse). Thus the most important parameters are consumption of natural resources and energy, emissions into air, water and soil, generation of waste and noise.
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
GRI frames out and disseminates global sustainability reporting guidelines for ‘voluntary use by organizations reporting on the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of their activities, products and services’. According to GRI Guidelines, reporters should take into consideration stakeholders’ interests and use the social indicators and others that more accurately depict the social and ecological performance of the organization.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
LCA evaluates and discloses the environmental benefits of products over their full life cycle, from raw materials extraction to final disposition. Since 1997 the process of conducting LCA studies has been standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Product-oriented standards
Organic Food Labeling
The National Organic Program (run by the USDA) is responsible for the legal definition of organic in the United States and issue organic certification.
Organic food are foods that are produced using methods involving no agricultural synthetic inputs, for instance, synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers, genetically modified organisms (GMO), and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives. Currently, the United States, European Union, Canada, Japan and many other industrialized countries require food producers to acquire special criteria or certification to market their products as “organic”. Apparently, organic food producers emphasize sustainable conservation of the social-ecological attributes such as soil, water and the whole ecosystem. International organizations such as the Organic Consumers Association supervise the development of organic food. According to the National Organic Program (NOP) in the US, a voluntary green-and-white seal on foods’ packaging denotes that a product is at least 95% organic.
MSC Labeling
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an independent non-profit organization which was established in 1997 in order to cope with the overfishing problem. Fisheries that are assessed and meet the standard can use the MSC blue ecolabel. The MSC mission is to ‘reward sustainable fishing practices’. As of the end of 2010, more than 1,300 fisheries and companies had achieved a Marine Stewardship Council certification.
FSC Labeling
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international non-profit organization established in 1993 to ‘promote forest management that is environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable’. Its main responsibilities for achieving the goal are standard framing, independent certification issuing and labeling. FSC directly or indirectly addresses issues such as illegal logging, deforestation and global warming and has positive effects on economic development, environmental conservation, poverty alleviation and social and political empowerment.
Fair Trade Labeling
EKOenergy is an ecolabel for energy in Europe
Although there is no universally accepted definition of fair trade, Fair trade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) most commonly refer to a definition developed by FINE, an informal association of four international fair trade networks (Fair trade Labeling Organizations International, World Fair Trade Organization – formerly International Fair Trade Association, Network of European Worldshops and European Fair Trade Association): fair trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the South. Fair trade organizations, backed by consumers, are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade.
U. S. Green Building Council LEED Rating System
The LEED Green Building Rating System evaluates environmental performance of all buildings over their life, providing the definitive standard for what constitutes a “green” building, persuading the consumer and building industry to develop products that are more environmentally and economically viable.
EKOenergy label
EKOenergy is an ecolabel originating in Finland. It is becoming the continent wide ecolabel for energy, which is supported by number European NGOs. It evaluates sustainability of electricity products on open energy markets.
Green Seal
Green Seal is a North American non-profit ecolabel organization established in 1989. It generates life cycle-based sustainability standards for products, services and companies in addition to offering third party independent test organization certification for those meeting its standards. Green Seal was the first non-profit environmental certification program established in the United States. It currently has certified nearly 4,000 products and services within 400 categories.
Reducing Human impact
Healthy ecosystems and environments are necessary to the survival of humans and other organisms. Ways of reducing negative human impact are environmentally-friendly chemical engineering, environmental resources management and environmental protection. Information is gained from green computing, green chemistry, earth science, environmental science and conservation biology. Ecological economics studies the fields of academic research that aim to address human economies and natural ecosystems.
“The term ‘sustainability’ should be viewed as humanity’s target goal of human-ecosystem equilibrium (homeostasis), while ‘sustainable development’ refers to the holistic approach and temporal processes that lead us to the end point of sustainability.” Despite the increased popularity of the use of the term “sustainability”, the possibility that human societies will achieve environmental sustainability has been, and continues to be, questioned—in light of environmental degradation, climate change, overconsumption, population growth and societies’ pursuit of unlimited economic growth in a closed system.
