Sustainability
[sə-stayn-ə-BIL-ə-dee]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: Latin, 1970s
1.
The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.
2.
Avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance.
Examples of Sustainability in a sentence
"Sustainability of the fish population in the lake is our goal."
"Reducing single-use plastics is an important element of environmental sustainability."
About Sustainability
If you watch your favorite legal drama on television, you'll sometimes hear the response of "sustained!" to an objection. This sense of sustainability has been around since the early 1900s. In a general sense (economics, environment, etc), it means to avoid a depletion of resources.
Did you Know?
As a primary tenet of environmental and conservation efforts, the definition of "sustainability" is important. In a 1994 World Bank publication: "Sustainability is defined as a requirement of our generation to manage the resource base such that the average quality of life that we ensure ourselves can potentially be shared by all future generations."
