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ABOUTUS SUSTAINABILITYINDICATORS101
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Sustainability
Indicators101
SustainableDevelopment
IndicatorsofSustainability
WhatIsanIndicatorof
Sustainability?
Traditionalvs.Sustainability
Indicators
CharacteristicsofEffective
Indicators
AChecklistforEvaluating
Indicators
OrganizingIndicators
IndicatorDataSources
IndicatorSpotlight
IndicatorProjects
SustainabilityIndicatorProjects
Global/Multinational
Australia
Canada
Europe
UnitedStates
Whatisanindicatorof
sustainability?
Anindicatorissomethingthathelpsyou
understandwhereyouare,whichwayyouare
goingandhowfaryouarefromwhereyouwantto
be.Agoodindicatoralertsyoutoaproblembefore
itgetstoobadandhelpsyourecognizewhatneeds
tobedonetofixtheproblem.Indicatorsofa
sustainablecommunitypointtoareaswherethe
linksbetweentheeconomy,environmentand
societyareweak.Theyallowyoutoseewherethe
problemareasareandhelpshowthewaytofix
thoseproblems.
Indicatorsofsustainabilityaredifferentfrom
traditionalindicatorsofeconomic,social,and
environmentalprogress.Traditionalindicators
suchasstockholderprofits,asthmarates,andwater
qualitymeasurechangesinonepartofa
communityasiftheywereentirelyindependentof
theotherparts.Sustainabilityindicatorsreflectthe
realitythatthethreedifferentsegmentsarevery
tightlyinterconnected,asshowninthefigure
below:

OtherIndicatorProjects
Canada

UnitedStates
 Communitiesareawebofinteractions
amongtheenvironment,theeconomyand
society.

Asthisfigureillustrates,thenaturalresourcebase
providesthematerialsforproductiononwhichjobs
andstockholderprofitsdepend.Jobsaffectthe
povertyrateandthepovertyrateisrelatedtocrime.
Airquality,waterqualityandmaterialsusedfor
productionhaveaneffectonhealth.Theymayalso
haveaneffectonstockholderprofits:ifaprocess
requirescleanwaterasaninput,cleaninguppoor
qualitywaterpriortoprocessingisanextra
expense,whichreducesprofits.Likewise,health
problems,whetherduetogeneralairquality
problemsorexposuretotoxicmaterials,havean
effectonworkerproductivityandcontributetothe
risingcostsofhealthinsurance.
Sustainabilityrequiresthistypeofintegratedview
oftheworlditrequiresmultidimensional
indicatorsthatshowthelinksamongacommunity's
economy,environment,andsociety.Forexample,
theGrossDomesticProduct(GDP),awell
publicizedtraditionalindicator,measuresthe
amountofmoneybeingspentinacountry.Itis
generallyreportedasameasureofthecountry's
economicwellbeing:themoremoneybeingspent,
thehighertheGDPandthebettertheoverall
economicwellbeingisassumedtobe.However,
becauseGDPreflectsonlytheamountofeconomic
activity,regardlessoftheeffectofthatactivityon
thecommunity'ssocialandenvironmentalhealth,
GDPcangoupwhenoverallcommunityhealth
goesdown.Forexample,whenthereisatencar
pileuponthehighway,theGDPgoesupbecauseof
themoneyspentonmedicalfeesandrepaircosts.
Ontheotherhand,iftenpeopledecidenottobuy
carsandinsteadwalktowork,theirhealthand
wealthmayincreasebuttheGDPgoesdown.
Incontrast,a Tryingtoruna
comparable complexsocietyon
sustainabilityindicator asingleindicator
istheIndexof liketheGross
SustainableEconomic Nationalproductis
Welfare.Inordertoget liketryingtoflya
amorecomplete 747withonlyone
pictureofwhatis gaugeonthe
economicprogress,the instrumentpanel...
ISEWsubtractsfrom imagineifyour
theGDPcorrections doctor,whengiving
forharmfulbasesor youacheckup,did
consequencesof nomorethancheck
economicactivityand yourblood
addstotheGDP pressure."Hazel
correctionsfor Henderson,Paradigmsof
significantactivities Progress
suchasunpaid
domesticlabor.Forinstance,theISEWaccounts
forairpollutionbyestimatingthecostofdamage
pertonoffivekeyairpollutants.Itaccountsfor
depletionofresourcesbyestimatingthecostto
replaceabarrelofoilequivalentwiththesame
amountofenergyfromarenewablesource.It
estimatesthecostofclimatechangedueto
greenhousegasemissionspertonofemissions.The
costofozonedepletionisalsocalculatedpertonof
ozonedepletingsubstanceproduced.Additionally,
adjustmentsaremadetoreflectconcernabout
unequalincomedistribution.Thecorrectionfor
unpaiddomesticlaborisbasedontheaverage
domesticpayrate.Somehealthexpensesare
consideredasnotcontributingtowelfare,aswellas
someeducationexpenses.(SeeIndicatorSpotlight
formoreontheISEWasasustainabilityindicator.)
LiketheGDP,theISEWbundlestogetherinone
indextremendousamountsofinformation,butthe
keydifferenceisthattheinformationtakesinto
accountthelinksbetweenenvironment,economy
andsociety.
Indicatorsofsustainablecommunityareusefulto
differentcommunitiesfordifferentreasons.Fora
healthy,vibrantcommunity,indicatorshelpmonitor
thathealthsothatnegativetrendsarecaughtand
dealtwithbeforetheybecomeaproblem.For
 communitieswitheconomic,social,or
environmentalproblems,indicatorscanpointthe
waytoabetterfuture.Forallcommunities,
indicatorscangeneratediscussionamongpeople
withdifferentbackgroundsandviewpoints,and,in
theprocess,helpcreateasharedvisionofwhatthe
communityshouldbe.

Indicatorsof up Traditionalvs.
Sustainability sustainability
indicators

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