Definition of Sustainability.

We like to use a simple definition:

• Using the resources we need, in harmony with nature, and leaving enough resources for future generations.

Need for Sustainability:

We need sustainability to solve current problems and ensure a good future. Humans lived sustainably for much of history. Recent changes in human ability to exploit the resources of the Earth without limits have created three critical problems: 

• Resources are being reduced faster than they can be renewed
  (some can’t be renewed).
• Human exploitation is harming nature in significant ways.
• People are suffering from the impacts of unsustainable growth and
  their impact on the Biosphere.

Biosphere

The Biosphere (literally “sphere of life”) is the collection of all life on Earth. It is also defined as the Earth’s outer shell of land, water and air the sustains all life.
The Biosphere is known as a self-regulating mechanism that maintains conditions favorable for the survival of life. The Biosphere gets its vitality from the life within it. In return, it maintains stability for uncounted lifeforms. It is an extremely complex and robust system that has withstood extreme external pressures for millennia. Yet it is threatened by activity within it – human degradation of ecosystems. The Biosphere is our home. We must protect it.

For Further Background Information

links to the national BECC website

Photo Credits: 

• Aerial view of city during daytime by Jimmy Conover
• Evergreen Brickworks viewed from hilltop observation area at other side of quarry, with autumn leaves by Glogger
• Earth in Space by ASPARINGGA