What is SustEnability?

The world that we live in today demands that human decisions and actions also consider the impact on the world beyond the human. Well researched articles and textbooks state that every action should be assessed for its impact on three entities: environment, society, and economy. These are considered the pillars of sustainability. If all these are unimpacted or positively impacted by an action, it is sustainable. Any negative impact on any of the 3 and the action should be further considered or avoided to ensure no long lasting or permanent harm is done. This outline was essentially created for the corporate world to follow while making business decisions as for many decades it was seen that the bottom line, a.k.a. profitability, was the only driving parameter in all business decisions and this left in its wake an unsustainable world across all three pillars. But recent efforts of people around the world have seen quite a few large and small businesses as well as governments make sustainability a part of their ethics, decision making and fundamentals either through self-regulation or legislation. Unfortunately, though, the ambit of sustainability has not been extended to the individual. 

People have been left to make their own consumer choices without any information or education on the impact of their actions on the 3 pillars. Developing countries around the world are witnessing a rise in the middle class and a reduction in average age. These two factors mean that there is more than ever a population that has a carnal desire to have an independent identity that attracts the rest of humanity, but with an aim to make minimum expenses on maximum items. This demand is being catered to by purely profit driven businesses through cheap quality and limited lifecycle products and by exploiting workforces around the globe, all while circumventing local regulations and engaging in tax frauds, thus leaving economies weaker. So, all this talk about corporate sustainability will only be talk until the individual, the end consumer, we the humans, start acting sustainably. 

Two wise men once exchanged words with each other where one said that the business of a business is business, while the other said that the business of a business is sustainability. The first meant to say that the only objective of a business is to make profit, while the other meant that a business should be profitable, be able to last for long and in its lifetime, help grow the people, planet, and the economy with it. If the second should be true it can only happen if the individual is wise to the need of the hour and acts accordingly. A population that chases cheap and more over quality and long lasting will fuel the unscrupulous businesses that look to make a quick profit at the cost of everything else, but a populace that buys thoughtfully, be it a product or a service, will force companies to produce goods and services that are sustainable.

So to answer the question, is sustainability jargon or essential truth? It is an essential truth that could end up being jargon for the marketing and PR departments of faltering organisations if the public does not start practicing sustainability on its own.

Before I conclude this blog, one point I do wish to make clear is that Sustainability and perfection are not the same. In fact, the desire for perfection is what has fueled consumerism, the very bane of sustainability and humanity. What is consumerism you ask? Read this blog to understand the biggest challenge that humanity has faced in many millennia.

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