Social Sustainability: the good, the bad and the ugly

For those who believe the phrase “social sustainability” and the ideas it represents are an overblown waste of time, I have to say that you need to wake up and smell the coffee along with the bacon! The primary pillar of economic sustainability depends upon the corollary of social sustainability. Our incomes are ultimately sourced from the society we serve. To the extent that we allow a willful ignorance to unnecessarily alienate our ever-changing consumer base, we shoot ourselves in the foot. This era of social media is an era requiring deeper transparency. Consumers are more aggressively probing companies, and companies are trying to stay ahead of consumer concerns by revealing more detailed information about their supply chains and sustainability policies. So strategic discussions about sustainability are occurring in board rooms, buyers offices and staff meetings all over our country for good reasons.