Sustainability: Seeking Balance

If you follow my blog posts you know that I often address the question, What Is Sustainability? For me sustainability is bringing into balance the elements of planet, people, and prosperity with an eye to the future generations beginning with our children.   I draw from the the sculpture of Alexander Calder to convey the framework sustainability can provide us as we make decisions in both our personal and professional lives. The image is attached to this post.

I've also started to reference the circular economy championed by Ellen MacArthur and her Foundation because of the off-balance orientation of our economic system that has failed the test of time, not only in its collapse, but in the practice of externalizing costs and risks, resulting in the degradation of Mother Earth and her peoples to a point, possibly, of no return.  An economic-centered view is championed by many business leaders at the same time they promote their organization's sustainability initiatives and programs and talk of a sustainable future.

There are also executives, using the imperial "we" of course, who express a more balanced view such as found in the release of the Wells Fargo & Company's 2013 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report.  Here is a quote from the press release by Jon Campbell, executive vice president and head of Government and Community Relations:

"We understand and embrace the important role we play in people's lives, the environment and the economic health of our communities," said Jon Campbell, executive vice president and head of Government and Community Relations. "We're committed to meeting our 2020 CSR goals, and will continually find ways to integrate sustainability practices into all of our business strategies, products, operations and culture to benefit our customers and the communities we serve."

It's the perfect note to end on.