the.com/sustainability
the art of borrowing from your grandkids and pretending you'll pay it back
means The practice of using resources, building systems, or living in ways that can keep going long-term without depleting what they depend on or wrecking the environment.
from From 'sustain,' which arrived in English via Old French 'sustenir,' from Latin 'sustinere' — literally 'to hold up' from 'sub-' (up from below) and 'tenere' (to hold). For centuries it meant simply to support, endure, or keep alive. The '-ability' suffix turned it into a capacity, and only in the later 20th century did 'sustainability' get its now-dominant ecological sense, popularized through environmental and development circles as the world started worrying about what would still be holding us up tomorrow.
- coined year
- German foresters used it in 1713 for timber
- buzzword inflation
- slapped on products that aren't remotely green
- earth overshoot
- humanity uses a year's resources by August
- three pillars
- environment, society, and economy must all hold
- recycling myth
- most plastic gets landfilled, not reborn
patagonia company — apparel brand committed to environmental responsibility since 1973, donates 1% of sales to conservation
costa rica renewable energy — generated 99.62% of electricity from renewables in 2022, mostly hydroelectric and wind
bhutan carbon negative — only country constitutionally mandated to maintain 60% forest coverage, absorbs 3x more carbon than it produces
interface carpet tiles — manufacturer achieved climate neutral operations in 2021 through circular economy model