What is: Environmental?

So now that we all understand a basic level of what social sustainability is, let's move onto the environmental stool leg. Most people feel this is the most obvious, the one concentrated on the most, or the only one that really matters when becoming sustainable or switching a business to a sustainable busienss. It seems correct, to make the Earth better we have to do better to the environment. But like I said earlier, each stool leg is just as important and the environmental leg cannot support the seat alone.

The environment...

So pretty, and just outside your door!

That's how most people think of the environment - trees, water, grass - probably some birds chillin' up in the tree branches singing their little hearts out. It's pretty, relaxing, and most importantly:

Is it still pretty?

Most people don't care what happens to it. The environment, nature, the WILDS, are for stories and camping. It doesn't have a place in our ways of life where we need everything instantly.

Environmental sustainability has it's priorities set in making picture 2 more like picture 1 - where it is clean, prosperous for every living thing and it's ecosystem, and only has positives to offer.

Of course the results in mind look more like a hybrid of the two, something called biomimicry: a science of looking to nature for answers in solving the problems we caused by a whole spew of bad choices. (Well, that's what it is in a simplified nutshell)