What is Sustainability?

Hello summer! With the change of season brings a new class and a new topic.  This summer we are going to be dealing with a word I am sure many of you have herd tossed around a great deal, sustainability.

What is sustainability? Basically it is a broad term for the capacity for a system to endure.  Ecologically speaking it is the ability of a biological system to remain diverse and productive over time.  A little more universally speaking, this is the ability for the human population to endure over time – BIG stuff, to say the least!

Our Mission: To inspire our reader to consider new or alternative forms of sustainability and recycling. Through collaboration we put forth information that stimulates thinking and broaden awareness on the long term benefits of these sustainable practices.

This is a topic that goes beyond gender, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs and political affiliation – it is a question that allows us all to come together to help build a brighter tomorrow. 

Like many large topics such as this, it all starts with small individual actions.  In an effort to uncover the truth behind our current sustainability practices we are going to be digging deep, exploring the intersection of economic value versus environmental/ecological costs, looking at how we live on this planet, how we manufacture and use goods, what resource we are placing the most demand on, how we can alter our daily activities to become more efficient and build an increasingly sustainable future and last but not least how we can make our living practices better.  We will be re-thinking sustainability and recycling process as we know it today. 

With that being said please know that we are going to give you some facts and information that some might find to be a little uncomfortable: we will attempt  to research the facts and find solutions; we are going to inspire you through stewardship highlights; we are going to talk about our ecological footprint (See Below); we are going to talk about sustainable design; we are going to talk about basic resource needs and how we are currently using them; we are going to talk about how we use and reuse materials; we will remind you how much of an important member of this community you are, and remind ourselves to REDUSE, reduce, and then recycle.   

This is an exciting summer and an exciting topic.  It is a chance to take a closer look at ourselves, our values, our actions and the world around us!

Best,

EcoMerge Team

What is your ecological footprint? Take this quick and easy test to learn more, http://www.myfootprint.org/ You might be surprised by the results!

 

Photo Credit: www.footprintnetwork.org

 

Source: http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/