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The common term “sustainability” has been thrown around often in recent years, mostly due to the emerging popularity of the “going green” movement. Sustainability is more than just recycling and buying products that are less harmful to the environment. Instead, sustainabiliy is a strattegy way of living in a way that can be done indefinately without endangering the fragile ecosystems of Earth. It encompasses how people eat, work, travel, house themselves, use energy and consume in general.

There are many definitions of the word sustainability, but they all come down to the same theme of finding a way to carry on indefinitely over time. In 1987, a United Nations Conference put a definition in writing for sustainable development. Their report concluded that sustainable development “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

A common theme in sustainability circles is a focus on conserving energy as well as using renewable methods for energy production. Fossil fuels have been the main provider of energy in developed nations for over a century. But the production and use of these unsustainable energy providers pollutes the air and water. In addition, the use of fossil fuels is a main factor in global warming effect. More sustainable methods of energy use include reducing reliance on these fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal. This can be accomplished by creating energy efficient homes, businesses, transportation systems and food production systems.

Creating access to and affordable means of using renewable energy is one other path to sustainability. The sun and wind produce free energy all over the world. Using and developing technologies to harness solar and wind power provides a way to supply energy to communities without compromising the Earth or the prosperity of future generations.