What Is Sustainable Development

The 21st century can be defined as a century that is heir to a whole process that began in the 18th century: the Industrial Revolution. Therefore, it is nothing more than the response after having suffered the consequences of a system that, although it has made life easier for us on the one hand, on the other has harmed our habitat, our planet.

Hence, as is customary, the human being sits down and decides to give a Copernican turn (or not) to its historical course, thinking how it could be possible to combine the natural, the available and finite resources with a system that is based on the material., technology: that is where sustainable development is born.

We should not be proud, far from it, of having had to reach this point to realize the damage that we caused nothing more and nothing less than our own common home, the Earth.

For this reason, in this article we will tell you about various aspects of sustainable development and even, if you allow us, we will give you some tips to be sustainable from home. Because not only companies pollute, it is everyone’s problem.

What do you need

What does sustainable development need to be fulfilled?

As in everything, development is a set of parts that must be fulfilled to close a kind of circle that is sustainable development. Hence, companies like Acciona remind us that there are three sustainability factors that directly influence the total, which is nothing more than sustainable development.

These elements of sustainability are the following

Environmental: It is more than clear that the Earth has a number of resources both renewable and non-renewable. The biggest problem is the overexploitation of these and the excessive spending that logically results in the depletion of natural resources. That is why it is so important that there is harmony between companies and the environment that surrounds them, in different ways: not expelling toxic-polluting gases or discharging water into nearby tributaries, as well as using resources equitably and not overexploiting one in particular, etc.

Social: although it is the purpose of this project (because human beings only think of ourselves) it is the most complicated aspect to carry out: the ideal would be to distribute wealth more equitably and reduce damage and exploitation, especially, in the countries that suffer more aggressively from this type of problem.

Economic: economic sustainability can be a little credible concept since, almost, they cannot go hand in hand. However, it should be noted that a company can save by recycling its own packaging and this will be reflected in the prices of the products, which are increasingly better for people.

Clearly, everything we state above may sound more like a utopia than a feasible reality. We will not lie to you, we are still far from achieving sustainable development in all corners of the world, but it must start now so that results can be obtained as soon as possible.

Instructions

But… What is understood as sustainable development?

There is no better way to understand a concept than by taking it from various sites and drawing a conclusion (which you may or may not agree with ours). We have decided to take the definitions from UNESCO, the RAE, Wikipedia and the company Acciona, a specialist in the field of sustainable and renewable solutions for companies.

For UNESCO, which takes the words of Brundtland, who coined the term: “It is in the hands of humanity to ensure that development is sustainable, that is, to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet Own”.

The RAE defines it as follows: “Especially in ecology and economy, which can be maintained for a long time without depleting resources or causing serious damage to the environment. Development, sustainable economy”.
Wikipedia says the following: “It is a concept developed towards the end of the 20th century as an alternative to the concept of habitual development, emphasizing the reconciliation between economic well-being, natural resources and society, avoiding compromising the possibility of life on the planet., nor the quality of life of the human species”.
For the company Acciona: “it is a concept that appeared for the first time in 1987 with the publication of the Brundtland Report, which warned of the negative environmental consequences of economic development and globalization and tried to find possible solutions to the problems derived from industrialization and population growth”.
That is to say, it is an attempt to humanize the economy: leaving aside seeing the economy as a closed process/separated from the human and mixing it with it, being the economy the one that must adapt to planetary resources and not the other way around, as been doing up to now. This is, for us, sustainable development.

What is the destination of sustainable development?

It is not easy to promise or designate a series of objectives on sustainable development in which a series of companies with great economic and political weight in the world are involved. For this reason, projects are prepared by the United Nations for specific years with which it seeks to promote ecology and recycling also in internal governments.
For this, the so-called Agenda 2030 has been approved, in which the United Nations together with its member countries seek to meet a series of objectives in order to improve the quality of life of each of the people who are part of it. of the world.
In the case of Spain, we have projects such as Tenerife 2030, which seeks to increasingly develop the island in a sustainable manner.
Returning to the general calendar of the United Nations, there are 7 main or fundamental objectives that this organization seeks to fulfill (or enforce, rather) to its member states. Join us to see step by step how the world seeks to change the course it currently has:
The first objective set by the United Nations is a set: the eradication of both poverty and hunger, seeking an improvement in the quality of life of the citizens of the world.
As a second objective, they intend to grant access to basic services to the entire population, with basic services we refer to clean water, electricity, etc.
Likewise, work cannot be left aside: for this reason, labor reforms are sought to fight against the exploitation of workers and education systems that seem to have become obsolete are reformed.
Accept cultural differences: no more a construction model applied to everyone equally, multiculturalism must be accepted and combined with technology.
Fight against the differences that exist in the world: from labor to gender. Clearly, fight for the protection of the diverse ecosystems that exist on Earth and avoid more pollution than there is today. It is important to delve into this point because not all of us know that, next to us, we have a critical reality: Greenpeace assures that approximately 12 million tons are dumped into the Mediterranean Sea. You can learn more about this issue by entering the petition to take action against this here.
You can also consult a digital document that Greenpeace itself has created to make the population aware of this. Enter the following link:
Of course, for this, the collaboration of all sectors is needed, so it is a job that depends on everyone, without exclusions.
Obviously, not everything should be a continuous line or a list of strict steps as if it were a string without variables. Sometimes, in fact, some objectives can be achieved before others.
Each government and society has more or less problems, so it must address, depending on the seriousness of each issue in each city or country, one problem or another. Therefore, in the following section we would like to tell you about some of the things you can do for the sustainable development of your country.

Tips

How to collaborate with the sustainable development of my country? Tips

Actually, it is simpler than it seems. Of course, we do not leave anyone aside (because they do not think that we are against businessmen), so we will make a small list of advice for entrepreneurs and another for consumers.

Entrepreneurs:

Never leave aside the social aspect when you are going to form/create a company. For example, if your product requires the use of plastic, collaborate with a recycling system that can allow both savings for you and the consumer and less impact on the Earth.
Don’t forget what’s around you. We anticipated it above, when a company is created, you cannot forget that you have a series of local resources that you should take advantage of but not overexploit.
If you don’t know what to do, there will always be someone who does. You may not know how to approach the sustainability of the product you make, so we recommend that you always be in contact with NGOs or foundations that know about the subject, as well as specialized companies.

Consumers:

Reduce excessive use of water and other resources. Things as simple as not leaving the water running when you are brushing your teeth save a lot of water.
Make proper use of the devices you have. It is not necessary to wash something that you can wash by hand in the dishwasher (just as you use the dishwasher correctly, as far as load is concerned) or drive the car serenely and calmly, you will avoid forcing it and emitting more gases.
Do not fall into the traps of companies. Don’t let the ads make you impulse buy and waste your money, time and damage to the environment for purchases that are not even necessary.
As you can see, it is enough to know how to appreciate what we have and try to give everything we use as much life as possible. In fact, there are markets for second-hand or refurbished products that help save electronic waste in the world.
Something similar happens with the Clean Points in Spain, not all of us citizens use them. By clicking on the link you will access the OCU website that offers a search engine for these throughout the country.
That is, the solutions are there, only you must be aware of what is happening in the world and enter the wave of sustainable development.
From our point of view, we believe that it is possible for sustainable development to be carried out successfully, as long as we all do our part. For a better world!