A resource is a substance in the environment that is useful to people, economically and technologically feasible to access, and socially acceptable to use. Sustainability is the use of Earth’s resources in ways that ensure their availability in the future.

From the perspective of human geography, nature offers a large menu of resources available for people to use. A substance is merely part of nature until a society has a use for it. Water, minerals, soil, plants, and animals are examples of resources.

Earth’s resources are divided between those that are renewable and those that are not:

• A renewable resource is produced in nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans.

• A nonrenewable resource is produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans.

Geographers observe that the sustainability of these resources is being damaged by human actions:

• Humans deplete nonrenewable resources, such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal.

• Humans destroy otherwise renewable resources through pollution of air, water, and soil

Geographers also document efforts to improve the sustainability of resources. Recycling paper and plastic, developing new industrial processes, and protecting farmland from urban sprawl are all examples of practices that contribute to a more sustainable future.

Sustainability’s Three Pillars

According to the United Nations, sustainability rests on three pillars: environment, economy, and society (Figure 1-68). The 1987 U.N. report Our Common Future is a landmark work in recognizing sustainability as a combination of natural and human elements. The report is frequently called the Brundtland Report, named for the chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development, Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway.

Three Pillars of Sustainability

Sustainability requires curtailing the use of nonrenewable resources and limiting the use of renewable resources to the level at which the environment can continue to supply them indefinitely. To be sustainable, the amount of timber cut down in a forest, for example, or the number of fish removed from a body of water must remain at a level that does not reduce future supplies.

The Brundtland Report argues that sustainability can be achieved only by bringing together environmental protection, economic growth, and social equity. The report is optimistic about the possibility of promoting environmental protection at the same time as economic growth and social equity.

(a) Environment pillar: Plants and animals; (b) Social pillar: Sugarcane farmers; (c) Economic pillar:Tourism.

1. ENVIRONMENT PILLAR: PLANTS AND ANIMALS The Everglades was once a very wide and shallow freshwater river, slowly flowing south from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico. A sensitive environment of plants and animals once thrived in this distinctive landscape, but much of it was destroyed by human actions to promote the economy.

2. (b) SOCIAL PILLAR: SUGARCANE FARMERS The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built levees and canals in the Everglades. These modifications opened up land for growing sugarcane and protected the South Florida's increasing population from flooding. However, the modifications also had unintended consequences, including polluted water and threats to native vegetation and animals.

3. (c) ECONOMIC PILLAR: TOURISM Everglades National Park, established in 1947, attracts around 1 million visitors a year. The National Park Service tries to provide an enjoyable visit while protecting the area’s fragile environment

Environment Pillar

The sustainable use and management of Earth’s natural resources to meet human needs such as food, medicine, and recreation is conservation. Renewable resources such as trees and wildlife are conserved if they are consumed at a less rapid rate than they can be replaced. Nonrenewable resources such as petroleum and coal are conserved if we use less today in order to maintain more for future generations

Conservation differs from preservation, which is the maintenance of resources in their present condition with as little human impact as possible. Preservation takes the view that the value of nature does not derive from human needs and interests but from the fact that every plant and animal living on Earth has a right to exist and should be preserved, regardless of the cost. Preservation does not regard nature as a resource for human use. In contrast, conservation is compatible with development but only if natural resources are utilized in a careful rather than a wasteful manner

Social Pillar

Humans need shelter, food, and clothing to survive, so they make use of resources to meet these needs. Homes can be built of grass, wood, mud, stone, or brick. Food can be consumed by harvesting grains, fruit, and vegetables or by eating the flesh of fish, cattle, and pigs. Clothing can be made from harvesting cotton, removing skins from animals, or turning petroleum into polyester.

Consumer choices can support sustainability when people embrace it as a value. For example, a consumer might prefer clothing made of natural or recycled materials to clothing made directly from petroleum products. They can also choose products that benefit people living in a particular place. Society’s values are the basis for choosing which resources to use.

Economic Pillar