Why Sustainability?

Why build a sustainability strategy?

The world is changing. The cost of oil has been rising. The global economy and marketplace are changing. Recent legislation requires that local governments incorporate greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2010. Water shortages, decreasing ecosystem health, climate change, rising transportation and food costs, among other things, all indicate that NOW is the time to start down the path towards leadership in ensuring long term sustainability for our community.

A key goal of sustainability planning is to work with community partners, organizations within and serving the community. Creating a shared vision of the future, determining where we can be coordinating our resources within the community on areas of common interest can produce powerful results, rather than each working in isolation of each other.

What does “sustainability” mean?

Sustainability is more broadly defined as balancing and integrating economic, social, and environmental health, and considering the future. A sustainable Prince George could be a community of citizens working collaboratively to help strengthen the social fabric, diversify and grow the economy, and enhance the natural environment for both current residents and future generations.

Below are some common definitions that have tried to capture the concept. 

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

-           The World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987

Sustainability means “social well being supported by a vibrant economy and sustained by a healthy environment”

-          Fraser Basin Council

Sustainability means "improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems."

-          IUCN, UNEP, WWF, Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living

 “Sustainability means doing things better – not doing without.”

 -          David Suzuki, Foreword to Sustainability Within a Generation, 2004

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” 

-           Maria Robinson

"Sustainability is the long-term wellness (for multiple generations) of our community "

-            Shannon Wagner

"An economy and way of life in which both people and nature flourish, a culture that can last."

-             Northwest Environment Watch

"(The) challenge is to create a life-sustaining Earth, a future in which prosperity and opportunity increase while life flourishes and pressures on the oceans, Earth and atmosphere diminish."

-              President's Council on Sustainable Development, USA

"Sustainability is like love and democracy - multiple meanings, not always perfectly realized, but always struggled for, at least by most of us."

-               Denise Lach, OSU

We invite you to define for yourself what “sustainability” means in your personal life, work life, or business.