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sustainable

/səˈsteɪnəbl/·adjective

able to continue indefinitely without exhausting resources or causing harm
Fig. 1 — The forest is genuinely being worked: a mature tree comes down, its logs join the pile, and the pile honestly grows.
01Definition

Sustainable describes a practice that could go on indefinitely because it does not consume the thing it depends on — a fishery that takes no more than the stock replaces, a budget that does not devour its own capital, a workload a person can hold for years. From sustain, 'to hold up from below'. The best-known definition comes from the 1987 Brundtland report: development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. The test is always time: what happens if this continues? A renewable source used greedily is still unsustainable.

02In use
  • iQuotas were set to keep the cod fishery sustainable after the collapse of the 1990s.
  • iiWorking eighty-hour weeks produced results, but it was never sustainable.
  • iiiThe city calls its transport plan sustainable because it can be maintained on current revenue.
03Collocations
  • sustainable development
  • sustainable growth
  • environmentally sustainable
  • a sustainable pace
  • economically sustainable

Family sustain (verb) · sustainability (noun) · sustainably (adverb)

04Relations

=viable, enduring, durable, maintainable, self-sustaining

≠unsustainable, wasteful

06TOEFL & IELTS

The single most useful adjective in environment and development essays, and not only there: sustainable growth, sustainable development, a sustainable pace, economically sustainable. The abstract noun sustainability names the property itself and is worth one appearance per essay, no more. Stress the second syllable, suh-STAY-nuh-bul; adverb sustainably. Do not use it as a synonym for 'green' — the word's actual claim is about lasting, which is why budgets and workloads can be sustainable too.

07Asked
What does sustainable mean?
Able to keep going indefinitely without using up what it depends on. The scene above is the whole definition in motion: trees are genuinely felled and the log pile genuinely grows, yet the forest's count never drops, because replanting runs at the speed of harvesting. Apply the same test anywhere — a fishery, a budget, a working week — and the question is always what happens if this continues.
What is sustainable development?
Development that, in the 1987 Brundtland Commission's formulation, meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. That sentence launched the modern usage and remains the citable definition; the UN's seventeen Sustainable Development Goals are its policy descendants. The phrase deliberately joins two things often treated as rivals — growth now and capacity later.
What is the difference between sustainable and renewable?
Renewable describes the source — it refills naturally; sustainable describes whether the whole practice can continue without damage, which is why a renewable resource harvested too fast is still unsustainable.
What is the difference between sustainable and sustainability?
Grammar, mainly: sustainable is the adjective describing a practice, sustainability the noun naming the property or the field ('a report on sustainability'). Sustainability is also the label for the discipline and the job title, which is why it drifts into vagueness in corporate prose. In an essay the adjective usually does better work, because it must attach to something specific.
What are the three pillars of sustainability?
Environmental, social, and economic — sometimes reduced to planet, people, profit. The framework insists that a practice lasting environmentally but ruining its workers or its finances is not actually sustainable, and vice versa. This is the fact that rescues the word from meaning merely 'green', and it explains sentences like 'the scheme is environmentally sound but not economically sustainable'.
Can a person's habits or workload be sustainable?
Yes, and it is one of the word's most natural uses: a sustainable pace, a sustainable training plan, a sustainable diet. The test transfers exactly — could you keep this up for years without depleting yourself? Sports coaching and workplace writing use it constantly, and it makes for a strong Speaking answer, since the metaphor of not spending capital you cannot replace is instantly clear.