>Actually a definition like Savage's only adds to the con
fusion. As I was reading my September 2009 issue of Chemical
Engineering Progress this morning, I came across an article "What D
oes It
Mean To Be Green?=" by Phillip E. Savage, PE, from University of
Michigan. While discussing various definitions of sustainability, he
writes: There is a general und
erstanding
that the desired outcomes from sustainability are to sustain economi
c prosperity
(however defined) and a high quality of life (however defined) for
all, while
protecting the natural systems of the planet. That seemed rather concise. Thought this might
add to
the discussion. -Nick ___________________________________ Nicholas J. Tsiakals Division
of Research Safety Chemical
Safety Section University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (217) 244 - 0682 "If we don't train students in risk management and s
afety
procedures, then we're not training them for employment in modern
industry. If we want someone to turn up in a job and be productive, t
hey
can't do that if they're not safety aware." -- Prof. Thomas Welton, Head, Dep
artment
of Chemistry, Imperial College London --
Words
mean things. So, when an author takes it upon him/herself to use
weasel words such as "however defined" they have just consigned the
whole discussion to opinion. For instance, what I call economically
prosperous or a "high quality of life" may be far different than what
someone in sub-Saharan Africa or Haiti may call prosperous or
high-quality life.
The more I look at this, the more I think that "s
ustainability" of the 2010s is the new "paradigm shift" of the 1990s.
Harry-----Original Message-----
From: "Tsiakals, Nicholas John"
Sent: Sep 9, 2009 9:19 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] sustainability definition
Harry J. Elston, Ph.D., CIH
Principal
Midwest Chemical Safety, LLC
www.midwestchemsafety.com
Editor, Journal of Chemical Health & Safety
http://membership.acs.org/c/chas/
Nationalized health care: All the efficiency of FEMA with all
the compassion of the IRS