2008 Sustainability Report

Sustainability is an increasingly popular topic in the United States, and with good reason. Dramatic global climate change and increasing consumer demands resulting from ever increasing global populations, are altering ecosystems and the availability of limited resources upon which we rely. The Bruntland Commission (United Nations 1987) brought forth this definition of sustainability: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” However, a more contemporary definition of sustainability is simply “Meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Sustainability is a philosophy that recognizes that we must change past short-term fragmental thinking and actions and initiate long-term holistic approaches understanding that we live in an interconnected world and our actions, individually and as a whole, can improve rather than degrade our global environment.