The Evolution of Sustainability

What is sustainability? In the popular press these days, it almost appears as if the word “sustainability” has simply replaced the term “environmentally friendly.” This, however, doesn’t capture the idea completely.

The original concept behind the sustainability movement was that our society and structures would be designed and built in such a way as to maintain a balance between three factors: economics, culture and the environment. The idea of keeping these three factors in balance is more accurately reflected in the term “sustainable development.”

At Wedler Engineering, we’ve spent a lot of time navel-gazing in order to be able to write our values down on a piece of paper. If you read them, you won’t find the word “sustainable” anywhere. This is done deliberately, as the core message of sustainability seems to have been lost over the last several years, and we didn’t want there to be any confusion as to what we value.

What you’ll find instead are words that speak to our commitment to being profitable, protecting the environment and looking after our people. In other words, we strive to be a sustainable enterprise by valuing the people who work for us, and for whom we work, by reducing our environmental footprint and by maintaining profitability.

What does your organization stand for?