So, What Does Sustainability Mean Anyway?
The first question that I am often asked is “So, what does sustainability mean anyway”? In some ways it is a super easy question to answer, and yet it can be very complex, too. Let’s start with the easy part. Many of us are already actively engaged with sustainable efforts, and perhaps not even knowing it. If you recycle your waste, you are acting sustainably. If you choose green-friendly shipping options, you are acting sustainably. Riding a bike into town to drop off those library books? Yep, that’s sustainable too. And thankfully, many of us are doing these things as natural parts of our day.
The topic gets considerably more complex when you are start looking at sustainability in a broader sense. What we do as individuals or within a family unit is one thing, but how do we look at sustainability across a community, a region, or a globally interconnected industry? Now things get very complex, very quickly. But more on that in a later post.
Many of us think of the environment when we talk about sustainability. But sustainability really goes beyond environmental concerns. According to the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals, there are 17 goals which encompass things like poverty, hunger, gender equality, clean water, quality education, along with the environmental targets. The idea is that all of humanity ought to have the opportunity to live and thrive without damaging our planet and the future.
My area of interest is much more precise - environmental sustainability. I want to look at how media tech thinks about environmental sustainability and how to improve its position. That means looking for technological efficiencies that enable the industry to take up a smaller carbon footprint.
The journey to sustainability starts with awareness. Understanding the scope of sustainability, we next need to understand our own carbon footprints and have a baseline measure. Measuring that footprint gets interesting very quickly, too. Are you measuring the company’s direct emissions (scope 1), or will you include the emissions consumed to run the business (scope 2) or will you go all the way and include the emissions generated by your supply chain (scope 3)? Once we’ve determined what we want to measure, how do we measure it? Just like anything else in life, measuring on a regular interval will help guide your progress. And just like that, you now have a path to sustainability.
While media tech may not be the worst offender when it comes to environmental sustainability, we all must do our part in this global effort to make the world a better place for future generations.
I am working on a report that will encompass the thoughts from leaders of media tech. Sign up for an advance copy of the report here.
