There's More to Sustainability Than Eco Design: The Three Pillars of Sustainability
Sustainability is a trending keyword in our lives today, but the word has begun to carry a lot of different meanings and interpretations as awareness of it spreads. Most people associate sustainability with reducing our environmental impact, yet there's much more to it. What is a true interpretation and how can it enrich your business?
At its core, sustainability is made up of three pillars: the economy, society, and the environment. Be it lifestyles, products, services or businesses, they are sustainable if they can last indefinitely. In the context of business models, being sustainable is about creating business models based around products and services that last or can be maintained over a long period of time.
The restrictions of sustainability
Although being sustainable does create several restrictions, they won't restrain or harm you (as many people fear) and will instead enrich your business and improve your designs. This is especially true in the long run, which the Zebra and Doughnut model exemplify.
What are the restrictions to keep in mind when building a sustainable product?
- Don't deplete resources – You can't build a long-lasting model if you're depleting a finite resource. Your time will be up when the resource runs out.
- Cover all three pillars – You can't build a house without a foundation, walls, and a roof. Similarly, sustainable models need to strike a balance between its three core pillars (economy, society, and environment) and shouldn't forget a pillar.
- Take action, don't pretend – Nothing is worse than greenwashing or sustainability washing. Misleading customers by pretending that your product, service or business is sustainable (when it actually isn't) is very risky. As a supplier, it is your task to properly and truthfully inform consumers about your product. Otherwise you are contributing to a less sustainable world as you create customers who think they are acting sustainably when the exact opposite is true.
To reiterate: don't be afraid of these restrictions as they won't harm or restrain you. Rather, you might find that they'll spark your creativity.
How to put sustainability into action?
Once you've made the smart decision to go sustainable, the next question is: "How?" In order to truly act in a sustainable way, you need to strike a balance between and cover all three pillars of sustainability.
Although each pillar can create an impact individually, they are only able to make a true difference and carry your business model forward if they are played out together. At its core, sustainability will make your business last since it helps you to build a strong house (no, fortress) around your product or service. In other words, your product or service won't fail since it's built to last.
How can you act upon and include all three pillars?
1. Society
Social sustainability is the most difficult pillar to understand and act upon because it is based more on ideology and politics. The key takeaway: don't harm others or social conditions with your business, product or service.
A top tip is to look up and down the chain to make sure that no individual or structural rights are harmed by your product. Levels that this should include are health, influence, education, living conditions, etc.
2. Environment
Environmental sustainability is about safeguarding the natural resources of the world. This is what classically comes to mind for most people when talking about sustainability.
Ensure that you don't deplete finite resources or harm the environment (FYI, there is no true infinite resource, but some like solar or wind come quite close). Here's a tip: think beyond yourself and your local environment to consider the earth and its surroundings as a whole.
3. Economy
Economical sustainability is what will drive all of this forward and is more an effect of social and environmental sustainability.
It's about making a business plan future-proof with long-term thinking rather than focusing on immediate gains. Take note that you will only succeed at this pillar if you aren't draining finite resources.
Enriching your business with sustainability
Although the three pillars of sustainability work independently, their relationship is one that works best when they are together and without compromise. Much like a real pillar, everything will crumble if only the outside looks beautiful or if a single pillar is left to carry the entire burden. To create your sustainable fortress, build strong pillars that support each other and are beautiful on both the inside and outside. Consider everything related to or surrounding each pillar and you'll come off better than before.
Creating for a higher purpose, such as sustainability, will serve you in the long run. Sustainable, people-oriented business models (such as the Zebra model) grow surely and steadily, turn a profit, and create shared prosperity for society. In short, you're the true winner at the end of the day.
Sustainability restrictions won't actually restrain you, so don't fear them. Accept them and use them to drive your business forward. For example, using an XaaS concept creates infinitely multipliable products and services that are more easily accessible for customers and offer benefits such as recurring revenue, flexibility, scalability, circularity and reduced costs since they're built to last.
Contact us if you want to find out more about how switching to sustainable can drive your business forward. Need help building your next sustainable venture? That's where we can come in. Together, let's try to be good to the planet!
