Sustainable Development is a fairly new concept. While industry, technology, and progress have been the hallmarks of the last few centuries, since the advent of the Industrial Revolution, concepts regarding sustainability only began springing up in the mid-to-late-twentieth century.
As stated in Wikipedia, Sustainable Development deals with, “…human life on a finite planet.” The goals and aims of Sustainable Development programs is to create a New World where living conditions for all world citizens are good, and raw materials and natural resources are conserved, while meeting present needs, so that the future inhabitants of Earth will continue to be able to maintain such a lifestyle.
The conservation of ‘Natural Systems’ is key to all Sustainable Development efforts. What is a Natural System, many readers are likely wondering. Quantifiable data regarding systems, whether chemical, biological, weather, life, ecosystems, and more, is used to gauge effects of human activity on such systems.
For instance, a traditional industry, such as zinc mining, can be assessed in terms of its impact on Natural Systems, created each step of the way, from mining the zinc, to the trucks and equipment used to transport and crush the rock, to the waste products that are created. Any industry or business, or even any human activity, can be considered in terms of sustainability.
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