Sustainable Sustainability
We take sustainability very seriously. It is the reason why we exist.
The term ‘sustainability’ and its definition have been debated now for years. We coined the terms ‘sustainable sustainability’ because we could see how the sustainability community, businesses, advocacy groups and government programs needed to be sustainable themselves so they would continue to exist.
Changing the world isn’t easy. Wether it is by changing laws, behaviors or manufacturing systems – the path to a sustainable future must be conducted with our own personal sustainability in mind.
This is why we wanted Green Pages to be fun, inspiring and motiving. Sustainability shouldn’t be boring or depressing. No point in burning out. No need for saving the planet to be a drag.
There is a beautiful world out there. We are just at the beginning of a new sustainable era: Green buildings, sustainable architecture, corporate sustainability, organic food, community . . . I could go on. We stand on the precipice of the ultimate era of sustainable innovation.
Al Gore once said ‘This is a very exciting time to be alive. This is the generation that gets to save the planet’.
We hope that Green Pages can help inspire a new generation of environmental activists and sustainability enthusiasts to take on the torch and go confidently in the direction of a greener future. Peacefully, intelligently and with good conscience.
Definitions of Sustainability
Wikipedia describes Sustainability as the capacity to endure. In ecology, the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems. For humans, sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions.
Corporate Sustainability
Corporate sustainability is a business approach that creates long-term consumer and employee value by not only creating a “green” strategy aimed towards the natural environment, but taking into consideration every dimension of how a business operates in the social, cultural, and economic environment. Also formulating strategies to build a company that fosters longevity through transparency and proper employee development.
Corporate sustainability is also heavily linked with Triple Bottom Line reporting whereby corporations will report on the economic, social and environmental impact the company has had.
Sustainable Development in Business
The most broadly accepted criterion for corporate sustainability constitutes a firm’s efficient use of natural capital. This eco-efficiency is usually calculated as the economic value added by a firm in relation to its aggregated ecological impact. This idea has been popularised by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development under the following definition: “Eco-efficiency is achieved by the delivery of competitively priced goods and services that satisfy human needs and bring quality of life, while progressively reducing ecological impacts and resource intensity throughout the life-cycle to a level at least in line with the earth’s carrying capacity.”
Sustainable Design
Sustainable design is a real favourite of ours here at Green Pages. Sustainable design is also called environmental design, environmentally sustainable design, environmentally conscious design and is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability. Sustainable design is applied to objects such as chairs, buildings, furnishings and interior decor.
