a new dawn in the conversation
The word sustainability seems omnipresent. Everyone is for it, and every company claims to be it. But what is it, really? Sustain means to endure or keep alive. That doesn’t sound like a lofty goal to me. Shouldn’t we aspire to more?
The word sustainability and the word clean are close cousins. And if you know me, you know what I think of the word clean in the realm of beauty. Neither term has measurable meaning; both conceal inaction and support of the status quo. This is superficial language that feels good for a moment, until you scratch your head and ask, “what does that actually mean?” (Have you noticed that you can read and re-read company sustainability statements, and they are just a word salad, often copied from each other?) It’s frankly embarrassing, and as a society we can do better and we WILL do better. It all starts with a new, elevated conversation.
I escaped the rut of “reduce, re-use, recycle” long ago. That is perpetuating a status quo – that few of us want. Instead, I envision the conversation as an ever-elevating horizon on three trajectories: intelligence, connection, and faith. Let’s explore this…