The Four Pillars of Sustainability
Around the world we are seeing more efforts taken toward being more sustainable and environmentally conscious. The actions are often aligned with new local legislation, company policies, and even industry trends. It’s great to see so many businesses finding new ways to make their work more ethical and sustainable, but how do we measure sustainability? What key points should we consider when looking for a sustainable business to work with?
Sustainability is broken into four distinct areas, known as the four pillars of sustainability: Human, Social, Economic, and Environmental Sustainability.
Let’s take a look into what these pillars cover.
Human Sustainability
Human sustainability, as the name suggests, is focused on people. Anyone directly or indirectly involved are impacted in some way by the production of goods and provision of services. In this section, responsibility, capacity, and the development of skills are highlighted. These help support the operations and the sustainability positioning of the business, which in turn promotes the wellbeing of communities and society.
Social Sustainability
Social Sustainability has a goal of creating and proving social systems that make up the framework of the societies we live in. Here, we look at the bigger picture, using a global perspective to consider communities and cultures. Social Sustainability works to protect the future generations by reminding us of the impact of our actions if we aren’t considerate.
Economic Sustainability
Economic Sustainability refers to practices that support long-term economic growth, without impeding on the other sustainability pillars. This section is focused on efficient use and pragmatic management of resources.
Environmental Sustainability
Environmental Sustainability is what jumps to mind when the word ‘Sustainability’ is used. It is concerned with all natural environments and eco systems as these have crucial connections to us that we rely on. Its over-arching goal is to ensure the needs of the population are sustained without risking those of the future generations.
So, what should you do?
Firstly, its important to understand that sustainability is not a box to tick. It is a large ongoing journey towards a goal that takes time, money, and whole lot of effort to integrate. You should consider a business’s sustainability through the focus of each of these pillars. Human, Social, Economic, and Environmental are all aspects that must be included in order to be successfully sustainable.
Businesses with clear and effective goals should be devising action plans specific to each sustainability pillar. Strategic decisions can then be made to better incorporate the right strategy into their policies and procedures.
Arrow Uniforms have been doing their bit by working only with suppliers who are certified by world recognised organisations for ethical compliance and social responsibility. We have been re-developing supply chain and operation systems to achieve increased efficiencies and exclude waste. We believe in transparency, and you can talk to us about so you can better understand where your uniforms are manufactured, how they are made, and what they are made from. We are here to help and strive to provide you with the best sustainable service and outcomes we can.
Call us free on 050 UNIFORM, 0508 643 676 to discuss how we can help you.
FAQs
The term sustainability is broadly used to indicate programs, initiatives and actions aimed at the preservation of a particular resource. However, it actually refers to four distinct areas: human, social, economic and environmental – known as the four pillars of sustainability.
What are the 4 P's of sustainability? ›
The 4P's: Purpose, Profit, People and Planet – Beyond Governance.
What are the 4 C's of sustainability? ›
Segera finds that balance between conservation, community, culture and commerce, and puts the environment at the heart of the development.
What are the 4 E's of sustainability? ›
The 4 Es of Sustainability: Energy, Efficiency, Economy & Environment.
What is the four pillars model? ›
The four pillars approach integrates prevention, treatment, enforcement, and harm reduction in a complementary manner to address the health, safety, and societal issues associated with substance use.
What are the 4 pillars of sustainability framework? ›
Introducing the four pillars of sustainability; Human, Social, Economic and Environmental.
What are the 4 rules of sustainability? ›
The four principles of sustainability - social, environmental, economic, and cultural sustainability - can be applied to our everyday lives in a variety of ways.
What are the 4 R's of sustainability? ›
We have long made it a priority to develop manufacturing methods and vehicles that have less impact on the environment. This 360-degree approach is based on what is popularly known as the four R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover.
What are the 4 factors of sustainability? ›
The term sustainability is used to broadly indicate initiatives and actions aimed at the preservation of a particular resources. However, it refers to four distinct areas: human, social, economic and environmental – known as the four pillars of sustainability.
What are the four key drivers of sustainability? ›
Key Drivers of Sustainability
- Competition for resources. The world's population is projected to increase to more than 9 billion people by 2050. ...
- Climate change. ...
- Economic globalisation. ...
- Connectivity and communication. ...
- References:
The four social sustainability principles are quality of life, equality, diversity, democracy and social cohesion.
What are the 5 Ps of sustainability? ›
The 17 SDGs are structured around the five pillars of the 2030 Agenda: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnerships. These 5 Ps highlight how the SDGs are an intertwined framework instead of a group of solo goals.
What are the four streams of sustainability? ›
It distills the four streams of sustainability—environment, people, economy, and culture— into a roadmap that is understandable, integrated, and most importantly, actionable.
What are the four pillars theory? ›
The four pillars or beliefs of Theory of Constraints (TOC) Management Philosophy are Inherent simplicity, inherent harmony, the inherent goodness of people and inherent potential.
What is the 4 pillars policy? ›
Four Pillars Policy – An Australian Government policy that there should be no fewer than four major banks to maintain appropriate levels of competition in the banking sector.
What are the four strategic pillars? ›
The 4 pillars for strategy are: Vision, Analysis, Target & Plan. A strategy needs to built on the foundation of an overarching vision that it is meant to achieve. In this sense it is important to acquire guidance on the vision from supervisory authorities of the strategy.
What are the P's of sustainability? ›
The 3Ps of sustainability are a well-known and accepted business concept. The Ps refer to People, Planet, and Profit, also often referred to as the triple bottom line. Sustainability has the role of protecting and maximising the benefit of the 3Ps.
What do the 4 P's refer to? ›
The four Ps of marketing is a marketing concept that summarizes the four key factors of any marketing strategy. The four Ps are: product, price, place, and promotion.
