What does sustainability even mean?
It actually takes on several definitions. To some it means to continue our capacity to live life on this planet - to endure. To others it is to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It could be that it is improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of the Earth’s supporting eco-systems. Or even it is about stabilizing the currently disruptive relationship between earth’s two most complex systems—human culture and the living world. They are all pretty much the same definition just with different words but what they have in common is that its they are all about meeting our needs today, while preseving tomorrow.
How is this the future?
We can't continue down our current unsustainable path of relentless growth we will one day overshoot the planet’s capacity to support us. The best possible option is that we choose a sustainable future. Many think that we’re already at or well past the divergence point, and have gone down the wrong path. However, that’s not obvious to most people yet. Only when a majority of people see the need to change paths they will either push us in one direction or the other. The consequences continuing to push the growth curve beyond its supportable limits are collapsing.
Change needs to happen sooner than later, while our resources are still some what abundant. Until the time when people fully realize the need for change, sustainability will be where the path takes us!
