User-Friendly Term

Many people ask for a simple explanation to understanding Sustainability. After sometime of answering this question and many moments of frustration, its, finally, come down to two words. I challenge anyone to break down Sustainability into a better "user friendly" term.

It's finding balance in every intellectual, value-added or operational process. After trying to educate stakeholders for years to still have them look at you with a lost sense of feeling at the end of a workshop was frustrating. So in putting together a simplified form of training brought about a workshop built around two words. This brought revelation to my students of sustainability that has had overwhelming success and they leave confident to achieve greatness by applying two words.

People understand "Green" because they relate it to recycling. They understand "Conservation" because of extinction. But why weren't they understanding "Sustainability" through the same form of successful publicity that Green and Conservation had received? They were hearing "Zero to Zero," or "no longer taking from the Earth," but weren't grabbing the concept for reapplication. How do I know this? Ask a person saying they've heard about sustainability to explain it to you. Nine out of ten times they stutter or pause before being able to find the appropriate wording to apply and answer. Many will interpret sustainability as "green" or "conservation."

Now ask one of my students to explain sustainability! An immediate response will be...rolling off the tip of the tongue...they will say, ..."finding balance."

It's finding balance in social sustainability between community and workplace, or economic balance between a town losing business and enticing SMART business. Last but not least, it's environmental sustainability finding balance between wildlife and human life. Although, these are just a few examples in the three areas of sustainability, it will help you find better answers while learning or applying sustainability.