Sustainability: Can it last?

The following is a work in progress (when it works, that's progress)

What is sustainability? In a broad sense it is the preservation of existing resources for future generations, but what exactly does that entail? There are issues of climate, water, and soil, which then contribute to food and health. In addition, it is possible that in the future issues of light and sound pollution may become of growing concern. All of this also involves the sustainable use of the end products, how we can use our natural resources efficiently to make consumer products but also do so in a “cradle-to-cradle” approach. After all, there’s a reason trash bins are labeled “waste.”

At the same time, there is a notable distinction between being in a sustainable state and developing in a sustainable manner. Assuming a closed cycle with a set reservoir for inputs (which, minus space dust, is what Earth is, or at least until we can synthesize sunlight into mass), a steady state implies a constant rate of inputs and outputs where the outputs are used to regenerate the inputs. In a state of sustainable development, the same situation exists, however in order to ensure that the reservoir is not depleted, the rate of removal of resources from that reservoir must decline over time so that the system can eventually enter a steady state before the reservoir is depleted. In a system of growing population, this requires decreasing the resource load each individual places on the system over time.

So then, what will Sustainability@MIT’s role be in this? Will we focus on specific issues pertaining to sustainability-the climate, water-or focus on societal concepts of sustainability versus sustainable development? And once we decide what our focus will be, how will we approach that? What tools are available to us to address the topics we choose?