What is Sustainability?

Sustainability "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (Bruntland Report, 1987).  A way of expressing this definition is through The Natural Step. That is, for sustainability to occur, the earth must not be subject to ever increasing amounts of:

• Concentrations of detrimental substances extracted from the earth's crust (i.e. fossil fuels)
• Concentrations of toxic substances produced by society (i.e. PBDE fire retardants)
• Degradation to nature by physical means (i.e. urban sprawl)
• Circumstances that undermine people's ability to meet their needs (i.e. unclean drinking water)

In 2009, The City adopted using these four system conditions to help create a more sustainable community.