When I asked whether people wanted to see the kind of thing I’ve been studying at university, it was a huge yes! So, this week I wanted to talk about one of the topics that I’ve been covering this term – the idea of sustainability. The word ‘sustainable’ is something that we often see on packaging and in the ‘sustainability’ sections of websites, but what does it actually mean?
Sustainability is a very flexible term. When you ask google what it means, you get told that it is the ‘avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance’. On the whole, this is a pretty decent understanding of what sustainability is, and I think, what most people would probably imagine – it’s looking after what we have so that we can have it forever. Academically, there is a popular understanding of sustainability as three ‘pillars’ which are all equal – social, economical and environmental. This model is also understood as intersecting circles and concentric circles, where the three strands all overlap or where they are all connected to each other.
What this basically means is that in order to be truly sustainable, all of these factors have to be considered. For example, an eco-friendly solution to a problem that doesn’t cost a lot of money is great, but it should also benefit the community if it can. Obviously, this doesn’t always work out – we’re constantly being told that the voices of indigenous people are not heard, or that there are solutions which are too expensive etc. There are lots of scenarios where one of the ‘pillars’ or factors is prioritised, especially when there are different people with different backgrounds discussing it. For example, the finance department of a big corporation, will always be concerned about money. Equally, a sustainability officer will be more concerned about the environmental impact. These differences can often lead to disagreements, which is why so many policies and ideas don’t get through.
Obviously because this is academia, this theory isn’t the only way that sustainability is interpreted, but I quite like it in that it shows how varied sustainability is, and how detailed we have to be when making decisions. But what does this mean for the consumer? Well, you may have heard of the term ‘greenwashing’, which essentially means that a company claims that a product is environmentally friendly when it isn’t, or isn’t as green as they say it is. This is not regulated, and there aren’t any general requirements for what ‘green’ or ‘eco-friendly’ mean. So, just because something says ‘sustainable’ on it, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is what you’re expecting.
The way around this is to look for certified labels, and to lobby companies to do better – they follow demand, so if enough people make small changes, these will result in big changes. In the label series, which I’ve been doing recently, I go through what different labels mean, so if you want to find out which labels are accurate and certified, look there! I hope that you enjoyed hearing a little bit about my university stuff this week, I’ll post the actual paper down below – don’t worry, it isn’t too tricky!
Sources:
- Purvis et al, Three pillars of sustainability: in search of conceptual origins – https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-018-0627-5
- How to spot greenwashing – https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/investing/article-8782005/What-greenwashing-know-company-ethical.html
- What does sustainable really mean? – https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/blog/what-does-%E2%80%9Csustainable%E2%80%9D-really-mean
Waste Makes Waste 