April / May / June • Issue 2 • 2019
Sustainability and Occupational Therapy
I have been a sustainability professional for over 25 years. As
with the field of occupational therapy, one of the hardest aspects
of my job is explaining what I do as sustainability professional.
My goal for sustainability is to expose people to one or more
of the three pillars of sustainability within their chosen field or
just within their daily life. The three spheres of sustainability
(Association for the Advancement for Sustainability in Higher
Education [AASHE], 2018) is a commonly used diagram to
explain the three areas and their interconnectedness which
creates a more holistic approach.
Most often, sustainability is thought of as recycling and
being “green” and that’s about where it stops. However, the
background and purpose is far more in depth. In 1987,
the United Nations initiated the World Commission on
Environment and Development and a report was generated
from this Commission commonly referred to as the Brundtland
report. The term “sustainable development” was coined and
defined as “development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs’’ (United Nations, World Commission
on Environment and Development, 1987, sec. 1). This
report further explained this concept with the three circles
or components: environmental protection; social justice and
economic viability. They are also referred to as “people, planet,
Kim Hankins
and profit” and the three legged
stool and are used in countless
applications.
The concepts go beyond
recycling. The social component
takes into account standard of living,
educational opportunities, and
equal opportunities that go beyond
just gender or race. The economic
component speaks to the heart of
business with profit, cost savings
and growth. When these two concepts intersect, issues are
exposed such as workers right for safety, equitable access and
fair trade; and an ethical approach to business. The third leg
is perhaps the most familiar, the environmental component.
This is focused on our natural resource use; land and species
management; and protection of our air, water, and land. When
environmental and economic intersect this is where businesses
and individuals learn to be sustainable by implementing
energy efficiency measures which save money and protect our
resources. We see incentives for appropriate use our resources.
The last intersection is that of environmental and social
which exemplifies the concepts of environmental justice and
stewardship both in your communities and across the globe.
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