What is sustainable production?

Most of today's corporations and workplaces are unsustainable. They consume too much raw material and energy, generate too much waste, and produce products and services that generate too great a burden on the assimilative capacities of the planet. Indeed, many such workplaces place employees and managers at significant physical and psychological risk and offer little long term economic security or job satisfaction. Too often the economic uncertainty surrounding these enterprises erodes the social stability and economic security of employees and the communities in which they live.

While many employees and communities accept these unsustainable conditions as an alternative to joblessness and poverty, these conditions and qualities are far less than the ideals that we seek in the places where we work. Instead, most would be pleased to see the creation of workplaces organized to be safe, clean, productive, secure and enjoyable. This vision comprises the goal of Sustainable Production.

The commitment to Sustainable Production integrates concern for the long term viability of the environment, the workforce, and the community with the financial life of the corporation or institution. Sustainable Production is an approach to production that unifies the typically fragmented components of environmental and occupational health with the economic security of the enterprise.

Production is here defined in a broad sense to mean the creation of goods and services whether this involves industrial processes, agricultural operations, commercial activities, transportation, or social and community services. It makes no difference to this definition whether such production is organized as private, for-profit operations; non-profit operations; or government functions.

Sustainability is here defined within the spirit of the term "sustainable development" promoted by the 1987 report by the World Commission on Environment and Development as development that meets the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of the future to meet its own needs. Thus, sustainability links current organizational conditions to future consequences in a manner that assures enhancement or, at least, minimizes deterioration.


Therefore, Sustainable Production is defined as the creation of goods and services using processes and systems that are non-polluting; conserving of energy and natural resources; economically viable; safe and healthful for employees, communities, and consumers; and socially and creatively rewarding for all working people.

Traditionally, these objectives are promoted independently, and, at times, even antagonistically. In contrast, Sustainable Production is promoted as the central organizing principle for developing new forms of enterprise that meet all of these objectives in concert. Sustainable Production provides a conceptual framework for the design of production in the context of the ecological systems of the planet and the organization of work in the context of the social systems of the community, the nation, and the world. Indeed, Sustainable Production proposes that work can be organized to enhance the environment and to be of benefit to employees and communities and that these conditions can lead, always in the long term, and often in the short term, to more economically viable and productive enterprises.

The following ten principles serve as guidelines for implementing programs in Sustainable Production:

• Products and packaging are designed to be safe and ecologically sound throughout their life cycle;

• Services are organized to satisfy real human needs and promote equity and fairness;

• Wastes and ecologically incompatible byproducts are reduced, eliminated or recycled;

• Chemical substances or physical agents and conditions that present hazards to human health or the environment are eliminated;

• Energy and materials are conserved, and the forms of energy and materials used are most appropriate for the desired ends;

• Work places and technologies are designed to minimize or eliminate chemical, ergonomic and physical hazards;

• Work is organized to conserve and enhance the efficiency and creativity of employees;

• The security and well-being of all employees is a priority, as is the continuous development of their talents and capacities;

• The communities around workplaces are respected and enhanced economically, socially, culturally and physically; and

• The long-term economic viability of the enterprise or institution is enhanced.

How does the Lowell Center bring sustainability to life?

The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production brings the concept of sustainability to life by:

Helping people use materials, energy, and other natural resources more wisely.

The Lowell Center assists businesses and communities to more efficiently use natural resources and take responsibility for the wastes they generate, creating economic, environmental, and social benefits.

Identifying new approaches to sustainability and practical solutions to production and consumption problems through collaborative research and action.

The Lowell Center conducts research and provides technical assistance and training on topics such as clean production, sustainable consumption, and innovation in development, use, and regulation of chemicals and materials.

The Product Stewardship Institute collaborates with advocates, government agencies, academics, and industry representatives to develop cooperative agreements with industry that reduce the health and environmental impacts from consumer products.

Building networks of sustainability advocates.

The Lowell Center provides training needed for government, industry, and community activists to lead the way in their own initiatives here and abroad. Its projects have played a role in creating activist networks for clean production, the precautionary principle, alternatives to incineration, sustainable consumption, and more.

Integrating sustainability into current systems of production and consumption.

The Lowell Center demonstrates how specific steps can be made that promote the broad vision of sustainability. For example, it has helped state regulators integrate pollution prevention into permit writing and enforcement practices. The Sustainable Hospitals Project helps hospitals integrate their occupational health and environmental health systems while reducing chemical and other hazards.

Improving the way organizations define and track their progress towards sustainability.

The Lowell Center develops tools to help businesses and communities determine if and how their sustainability efforts are working. For example, the Sustainability Indicators and Management Systems project helps industry develop ways to measure and implement more sustainable forms of production.