green

Last week at the Build2Sustain blog they posed some questions that I thought were relevant and am now going to take my shot at answering.  If you want to read what other people think, you can check out the comments here.

The original post from build2sustain:

As we continue to move forward creating new industries and methods that are more environmentally and socially responsible, labels get tossed around in different situations and representing different nuances.  With this in mind, is it important that we begin to define terms more clearly?  What is the difference between “green” and “sustainable”?  Is there one?  Should there be one?

I completely agree that there needs to be some clarification for the two terms.  Typically, companies are using these words to market their products, and letting the consumer fill in the definition.  The consumers definition of  ’sustainability’ may be vastly different from the processes that were used to make the good or whatever, but because the processes dont necessarily jive with what the consumer thinks, then they just keep it to themselves.  This works out well for the company, as every person has a different mental picture of sustainability and this allows them an easy way to satisfy all the customers.

According to scientists in 1987 at the UN Conference, sustainable developments are available to: meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs“(WECD, 1987). There have been other definitions and they are below:

1. “Sustainable means using methods, systems and materials that won’t deplete resources or harm natural cycles” (Rosenbaum, 1993).
2. Sustainability “identifies a concept and attitude in development that looks at a site’s natural land, water, and energy resources as integral aspects of the development” (Vieira,1993)
3. “Sustainability integrates natural systems with human patterns and celebrates continuity, uniqueness and placemaking” (Early, 1993)

So there are some pretty solid definitions up there, and they all are looking to integrate the natural system with human interaction.  This has been a change from the past, where human will was/is imposed on nature, as opposed to attempting to find synergies and harmonize with nature.  A perfect example of this exists on the engineering building at the University of Wyoming.  It reads: “Strive on, the control over nature is won, not given”.  This slaps of imposing our will on nature, and treating it as something that will be there, unchanged, for eternity.   Sustainability needs to have respect for nature, and take advantage of the value that nature adds to some products (such as natural water filtration).  Ignoring these would be at our own peril, and honestly, a waste of financial resources that could make more difference elsewhere.   So…what definition for sustainability did I finally settle on?

Sustainability is the practice in which your use does not degrade future use.

I think that green falls along the same lines as sustainable, but not quite as built for the future, although it somewhat will be.  Household cleaners and other things that are produced in a green way still contain chemicals and still will do damage to the environment at some process on the supply chain.  While the product can still be produced in an environmentally friendly way, making it ‘green’ there’s no way to know if the process is sustainable right away.  I think green has just been a label attached to many products to signify some sort of environmental action.  Sustainability makes you look at the system as a whole, as opposed to just a single piece, like green does.

So, green is attaching some sort of environmental meaning to a single product.

Sustainability is about the process, and, In my mind, a better way of viewing things.  Chain reactions are often caused, and taking a more big picture view of things is the way to go!  Just like this blog, nothing is completely seperate from another task.

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