What Sustainable Really Means (Hint: It’s More Than Eco-logical)

Sustainability is defined as the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. At its core, it’s about balance—between humans and nature, between profit and ethics, between the short term and the long haul. It's not just about the environment. True sustainability rests on three pillars: environmental protection, economic vitality, and social equity. Leave one out, and the entire structure falls apart.

But if you look around, you’d think sustainability was all about buying a reusable water bottle or swapping out plastic straws. While those actions are helpful, they barely scratch the surface. The real work lies in reshaping how we live, how we work, and who gets to participate.

And that’s where the conversation gets uncomfortable—because we’re leaving a whole group of people behind.

The Missing Conversation: Disability and Economic Inclusion

Let’s talk about a truth that most people avoid: you cannot call a society sustainable if it systematically excludes people with severe disabilities from the workforce. And yet, that’s exactly what’s happening.

Millions of people with significant intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities are locked out of meaningful employment—not because they’re incapable, but because employers don’t know how to adapt, accommodate, or even imagine roles for them.

Even in progressive circles, even among “green” companies, accessibility often ends with a wheelchair ramp or a land acknowledgment on a website. But what about economic inclusion? What about meaningful work that allows people with severe disabilities to participate, grow, and contribute?

The harsh reality is this: the workforce is still designed for able-bodied, neurotypical people. And that is neither fair nor sustainable.

The Walgreens Example: Proof It Works

Some companies are proving that it doesn’t have to be this way. Walgreens, for instance, launched an innovative model at its distribution center in Anderson, South Carolina, where about 50% of employees have a disability. These workers perform just as well as their peers—often with better retention and lower absenteeism. The company didn't lower its standards; it expanded its framework of possibility. I have to highlight that Walgreens also employs people with severe disabilities.

According to a 2012 Walgreens press release, this inclusive employment model improved productivity and morale, reduced turnover, and proved cost-effective. It wasn't charity. It was good business.

Imagine if more companies followed suit. Imagine if every warehouse, office, and online store had systems in place to welcome workers of all abilities. We’re talking about untapped potential—millions of people who want to contribute, who can contribute if given the chance.

Green, But At What Cost?

Let’s pivot to the environmental side—because even here, the story isn’t as clean as it seems.

Take solar panels. They’re celebrated as the crown jewel of clean energy—and yes, they reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But how are they made? What happens before they go up on rooftops?

The production of solar panels depends on open-pit mining for rare earth minerals like lithium, cobalt, and silicon. These massive mining operations often occur in the Global South, where regulations are lax, and environmental destruction is rampant. Local communities are displaced. Water is contaminated. Ecosystems are scarred. Open-pit mining is one of the most environmentally destructive types of mining—and the damage it causes is often irreversible causing massive habitat destruction.

In other words: our clean energy comes with a dirty cost. And we’re not talking about it enough.

If we genuinely care about the planet, we must hold every part of the supply chain accountable—not just the shiny finished product. Otherwise, we’re just outsourcing our pollution and calling it “green.”

Sustainability Is a Three-Legged Stool

So where does that leave us?

Right back where we started: sustainability is not just about the environment. It’s about people. It’s about economies. It’s about justice. You can’t separate one from the other.

If we don’t create accessible, inclusive economic systems, we are not building a sustainable future. We’re just building a future for a select group of people, not for everyone.

Let’s Redefine Our Actions Around Sustainability

We have to get real about the deeper meaning of sustainability with actions. Because a future that only serves the able-bodied, neurotypical, and already included is not sustainable—it’s exclusive, fragile, and incomplete.

Let’s be clear: this is not about shaming people who have worked hard and earned financial success. Many individuals and families have sacrificed, innovated, and persevered to build stability for themselves. That deserves respect! We must also acknowledge that the doors to those opportunities aren’t open equally to everyone. When people with disabilities don’t even get a chance to step onto the playing field, the system isn’t broken; it’s working exactly as it was built. And that’s the problem.

A sustainability movement that ignores this fact isn’t just unjust—it’s unfinished—not just from a justice standpoint, but from a human progress standpoint.

​Multiple reports and articles have highlighted the exclusion of people with disabilities from sustainability and climate discussions. For instance, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) emphasizes that while sustainability reporting can help organizations understand their impact on the rights of people with disabilities, this aspect is often overlooked. Additionally, a 2022 study by the Disability-Inclusive Climate Action Research Programme revealed that only 37 of 192 State Parties to the Paris Agreement currently refer to persons with disabilities in their nationally determined contributions, indicating a significant gap in inclusive climate policy. These findings underscore the need for more inclusive approaches that integrate disability considerations into sustainability initiatives.​

We are cutting ourselves off from an entire pool of creativity, resilience, and lived wisdom that could improve our world in ways we haven’t even imagined. Every person excluded from economic participation due to systemic inaccessibility is a lost opportunity—for innovation, for connection, and for dignity.

If sustainability is about enduring solutions that benefit the planet and its people, then it has to include all of its people. Otherwise, we’re not building a future. We’re just building a bubble. Because true sustainability can’t exist without true inclusion.