[This post was written by Teresa Celestine, Stephanie Lewis, and Scott Demming. The post and complements previous students’ analysis of the question “What is Sustainability?”]
In theory, sustainability practices seem straightforward. To put it simply, try to do what ever you are doing in a way that will allow it to continue on, hopefully forever. This applies to economic, social, and environmental factors. In this three part theory, as initially introduced by the Brundtland Commission in 1986, we see that each factor can be equally important to the goal of sustainability[1]. This seemingly simple theory, however, is difficult to put into practice, especially in today’s business world.
Current practices and cultural awareness of sustainability measures are a far cry from what they were 30 years ago. Yet, entry barriers for entrepreneurs seeking to start a new business ventures in a sustainable fashion are high and difficult surmount. Often business owners face the challenge of trying to prioritize sustainable operating practices over simply vetting out a business concept or proving the model will work . . . much less turning a profit.[2] There seems to be built-in obstacles for new sustainable businesses as demonstrated by the general absence of useful guidance from venture advisers and business coaches and support systems.[2] From a pure sustainability perspective, business itself is postured more for measuring and promoting unrestricted growth and development, not for efficiency in the use of resources and materials in order to accomplish a profitable endeavor. Likewise, economic measures used by corporate accountants and wall street analysts seem to unquestionably link the notion of prosperity with growth.[3] Addressing the larger problem of reducing material consumptions in day-to-day business activities has been largely unaddressed.
This scenario demonstrates how easy it is to focus solely on one part of sustainability. If a company tries to be environmentally sustainable and ignores the economic and social factors it is easy to see that they could find themselves very environmentally friendly but so over budget that the company goes out of business. Likewise, a company could be ecologically friendly and profitable but if it producing a product that is socially unacceptable or abuses their employees it will not be able to stay in business for very long with no one willing to be one of their employees. The same goes for individuals and society. It appears that the ultimate practice to the theory of sustainability is to simply try to be mindful of the decisions we all make and their impact in order to find a way to continue the good things for future generations.
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[1] Robert W. Kates, Thomas M. Parris, and Anthony A. Leiserowitz. “What is Sustainable Development?” Environment 47:3 (Apr. 2005), 8-21.
[2] Schick, Hildegard, Sandra Marxen, and Jurgen Freimann. 2002. “Sustainability Issues for Start-up Entrepreneurs.” Greener Management International 38, pp. 59-70.
[3] Jackson, Tim. Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet. London: Earthscan, 2009.
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Sustainability History Project 
Systems thinking and practice This Open University course outlines what is systems thinking and practice? The essence of systems thinking and practice is in seeing the world in a particular way, because how you see things affects the way you approach situations or undertake specific tasks. This unit will help you to learn about the problems of defining a system and meet some of the key concepts used in systems theory: boundary, environment, positive and negative feedback, etc.