When Bloomberg recently invited me into the discussion of a pro or con blog on whether sustainability is a trend or a fad, my first thought was; how can anything we do not be sustainable? If the definition is basically that whatever we take must be given back so we can live in relative bliss for the foreseeable future, then how can any corporate sustainability program be either a fad or a trend?
All humans know intrinsically that there is a natural order to things and that we cannot exploit the earth’s resources to the point of destruction. I believe this is something we’re all aware of, even though as a race there are times where our expanding this or overlooking that may appear destructive But at the end of the day, we all know deep down that there is only one way for us to live harmoniously together and to keep our habitat viable for future generations, and that is to keep on replacing that which we take away.
This unwritten rule relates to all ecosystems, every manufacturing plant, every operating business on the planet. So to even suggest sustainability could be a fad is in my opinion an insult to all of us who strive to promote it, and I believe that for Bloomberg even to suggest it is a fad at a time when corporate social responsibility reports are just coming out implies that they may not be looking at journalism in a sustainable manner. Nor, for that matter, can sustainability be considered a trend. Both of these terms imply that the very key to our planet’s ability to sustain us as a species is merely a short-term concern.