With the HOPES conference coming in less than a month, I start to wonder what exactly “sustainability” entails. I have been hearing the term being thrown around in many of my classes, but have never actually analyzed the entirety of the concept. I feel as if there are a large number of branches under such a concept, which could be towards the environment, social issues, economics, product design, etc. All parts play a key role in defining what sustainability is. According to Merriam-Webster’s definition, sustainability is “a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged”. In order for the future to be sustainable, we need to act now so that future generations will not be affected by us using all the resources. Many large corporations are designing products that are sustainable, and hopefully more will jump on the bandwagon. It will be interesting to hear what the current state of sustainability is during the HOPES conference.
