Why is sustainability important?

You might often hear the word sustainability in certain contexts, such as when discussing energy, packaging, and fashion. But what exactly does it mean? According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, sustainability is defined as “the quality of being able to continue over a period of time”. 

However, a better way to understand this term and how it's used today can be found in the United Nations article on Sustainability. This article shares how the United Nations Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” 

This explanation answers the question “why is it important for me to be sustainable?” or “why is sustainable business important?” by recognising that people, whether they are acting as individuals or as part of larger organisations, need to manage how they consume various resources, and how their actions affect aspects of our environment. By ensuring sustainable processes are followed, these resources will be available for generations to come, ensuring a sustainable quality of life for the next generation. You can learn to be more sustainable with a few tips we put together on a previous blog.

To get a better understanding of how sustainability is achieved across different aspects of life, it’s important to understand a theory known as the three pillars of sustainability. 

What are the three pillars of sustainability?

The three pillars of sustainability are a concept that’s commonly used when exploring sustainability and how it works. According to Purvis, Mao, and Robinson in the paper Three pillars of sustainability: in search of conceptual origins, this theory has no single author, but has evolved from different schools of thought on sustainability. 

Regardless of its origin, the theory helps us understand how sustainability works by looking at three pillars, or elements. These elements are environmental, economic, and social, and are represented as three overlapping circles in this theory. While benefits can be found by overlapping two of the three circles, the area where these three overlapping circles meet is where sustainability can be found. 

According to the article What Are the 3 Pillars of Sustainability? from the sustainability activism site, Treehugger, here’s a closer look at what each of these pillars means. 

The environmental sustainability pillar

The environmental pillar is focused on the sustainability of the environment. Why is environmental sustainability important? People and other forms of life exist in the planet’s environment, and to ensure that it continues to do so, people need to take steps to ensure water, air, and soil quality, as well as other aspects of the environment, are maintained. This can be achieved by understanding the stress that human activity has on the environment and working to reduce or eliminate it.

This is arguably the most important pillar because neither the economic pillar nor the social pillar can function properly without an environment that is suitable for human life.

The economic sustainability pillar

The economic pillar is focused on the sustainability of the economy. Economic activity is beneficial to society as it provides people with the financial resources that they need to maintain their social well-being. By ensuring it’s properly maintained through various means, such as responsible use of natural resources or recycling existing material, the benefits of economic activity can be spread across society. 

The social sustainability pillar

The social pillar is focused on ensuring equitable sustainability for all people. This means ensuring people have access to resources, education, healthcare, a safe and healthy environment, as well as other important societal elements. 

How can you measure sustainability?

Now that you understand the importance of sustainability and how it’s affected by the three pillars of sustainability, you might be wondering how you can measure sustainability.

Measuring sustainability is no easy task and depends greatly on what aspect of society you’re focusing on. How a company or government measures sustainability can be very different from how an individual measures it, even if you’re focused on the same general goals, such as reducing energy consumption or recycling waste paper. 

Sustainability goals for a larger organisation, such as the government or business, can be easier to track as they implement specific metrics that allow them to measure progress on these sustainability projects. 

For example, the UK government in 2024 outlined a variety of sustainability goals, including supporting more renewable energy sources through the Great British Energy Bill, supporting aviation fuel production through the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (Revenue Support Mechanism) Bill, improving water quality through the Water (Special Measures) Bill, and other steps to improve sustainability. Updates on the progress of these programs will be provided by parliament to the Management Boards of both Houses monthly. These are, in turn, published by both houses in their Annual Reports.      

As an individual, tracking how your actions impact your sustainability goals can be much harder. For example, you could be focused on reducing your impact on the environment by composting food waste or recycling plastic so neither of these items ends up in a landfill, or by using some of your kitchen water in your garden, rather than pouring it down the drain. These are all small but tangible actions that can add up to a more sustainable society, but measuring their impact on sustainability can be difficult on a person-by-person basis. 

However, other actions that you take can be much easier to measure. For example, you could install solar panels in your home as a more sustainable source of energy. If you have a smart meter, you can measure how much energy you’re producing, making it far easier to measure your sustainability goals.

Improve your sustainability with renewable energy sources and So Energy

Our fixed tariff options are 100% renewable energy, allowing you to provide sustainably sourced electricity to your home. We also offer other sustainable energy solutions, including solar panels, batteries, and heat pumps, which can help you further reduce your environmental impact and make your life more sustainable.

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