What Is Sustainability?

What Is Sustainability?

Written by Claire Patterson

A superfluous and overused buzzword, its definition can be molded to fit any narrative that is needed. Some define it as investing in the long-term with short-term solutions, others, the ability to maintain or support a process continuously over time. Regardless of the definition, most agree that three aspects influence sustainable practice: economic, environmental, and social implications. The UN primarily leverages economic and environmental factors to define their 17 Goals for Sustainable Development.

The age of rapid technological progress is both an asset and a liability towards developing a sustainable future. Recent climate crises have been an astonishing wake up call as our need to do something to reverse or halt the harm that has been induced onto the planet by years of harmful processes. It may be instead easier to define what is NOT sustainability. Non-sustainable products use resources that can either never be replaced or at a slower rate than at which they are being used. Common examples of these are fossil fuels, rainforest timber, and fishery stocks.

Oligomaster is a start-up that originated in Hamilton, ON. The city sits on land that is protected by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Agreement, the dish symbolizing the land with the one spoon being what we all share when anything is taken from the land. We keep the dish clean and only take what we need. This sustainable model has fueled healthy living from the land for generations. Understanding the environment, its limits, cycles and changes allows us to avoid depletions. Current Western culture tries to build a nested model of the three aspects of sustainability, fitting the environment into our social and economic needs, whereas, for a sustainable future, our economic needs should be embedded within our social needs and finally within the environment’s needs so there will always be more if we need it.

Understanding the environment, its limits, cycles and changes allows us to avoid depletions.

The systems thinking model follows a belief that every component of a system contributes to a larger whole. By isolating one factor and identifying our behavioural patterns, we can notice our shortcomings and can anticipate where there is a broken link. From there, we can build up and re-emphasize that area to improve the system’s long-term viability.

In recent decades, single-use plastics are plaguing the Earth. They place a strain on public health by leaching toxins and microplastics into our foods, thereby also impacting the ecosystem and contributing to biodiversity loss. Macroplastics such as plastic bags, straws, cutlery, and packaging release high amounts of carbon into the atmosphere both during their manufacture and following their use as they sometimes incinerated or landfilled in waste processing facilities. Single, non-recyclable plastics are one of the leading causes of anthropogenic climate change. By adapting manufacturing processes to be more energy-efficient and low-waste, they are economically more viable by saving money on raw materials, utilities, and labour costs. Some governments also provide tax incentives to promote sustainable practices. Simply cutting costs there is not a promise of being more sustainable. Although leading to lower overheads and cheaper raw materials, offshore production significantly increases shipping emissions, especially as many countries do not uphold the same high-quality standards that Canada does for their factory emissions.

Oligomaster’s sustainable initiatives are threefold: reducing waste, promoting a circular economy, and mentoring the industry’s future.

They develop biodegradable products for primarily single-use markets such as fast food, packaging, healthcare, and other high-volume/low-reusability sectors. Whether for convenience or for sanitation’s sake, reducing waste by landfill mass has positive impacts. Bioplastics become biomass, carbon dioxide, and methane, each being safely reintegrated to the environment via the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles. Plastics ending up in landfills, however, are instead burned, releasing toxic nitrogenous and sulfuric molecules, and other additives such as chlorine and fluorine into the atmosphere.

Innovation in the recycling sector leads to new technologies that will promote positive environmental impacts. Did you know vinyl can be recycled into the same product up to seven times without losing any of its mechanical properties? Developing recycling methods for non-conventionally recycled materials extends those product’s useable lives as they are recirculated. These products can be recycled, remade, then resold and reused, functionally creating a circular economy as trade and commerce continue to occur without the need for new material to be produced.

Impacts made today in the sustainability movement are moot without continuous follow-up ensuring the initiative’s longevity. Connecting with youth helps Oligomaster promote sustainable habits that will ultimately become sustainable lifestyles. By supporting, mentoring, and guiding future engineers’ research and product development, sustainable mindsets are encouraged; applicable and increasingly sought-after in technology, supply chain, manufacturing, and end-of-life industries.

Sustainability is understanding how everything is connected. There are deep-rooted relationships between our society, environment, and economy. By seeing a situation holistically and by acknowledging there are multiple solutions to combat the same problem, we can more effectively make an impact on other parts of said system. There are no perfect solutions. All we can aim for is to do our best and to make smart decisions. We can always do better, and that is what makes us human. Making consciously sustainable decisions and aiming for “net zero” products is a simple yet effective way to meet our needs, maintain the planet’s needs, and to ensure the needs of the future can be met.