Research Guides: Sustainability: Home

What is Sustainability?

Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations.

Sustainability is important to making sure that we have and will continue to have the water, materials, and resources to protect human health and our environment.

(United States Environmental Protection Agency, n.d.)

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Primary Suggested Databases

GreenFILE This link opens in a new window
GreenFILE offers well-researched information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles includes content on the environmental effects of individuals, corporations and local/national governments, and what can be done at each level to minimize these effects.

Secondary Suggested Databases

Academic OneFile (Gale) Full-text Database
Academic OneFile provides peer-reviewed, full-text articles from leading journals and reference sources. It includes coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and, other subjects.
Academic Search Complete (EBSCO) Full-text Database
Academic Search Complete provides full-text for more than 4,650 publications, including full-text for more than 3,600 peer-reviewed journals. PDF backfiles to 1975 or further are available for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 titles.

Gale General OneFile This link opens in a new window
Gale General OneFile provides access to an unprecedented number of general reference magazines and key serials in a single resource. This database is useful to users conducting general reference queries, business searches, and current event research. The addition of a browse-by-subject feature allows users to easily view content of interest on the most popular and most-searched topics within several distinct categories, including news and current events, health, and computers and technology.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
This database includes all 2,800+ JSTOR academic journals that span more than 60 disciplines across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, along with millions of primary sources across four collections.

Web Resources

City of Fort Lauderdale Office of Sustainability
Though we have been working towards a more sustainable City for many years, the Sustainability Division (SD) was formed in 2012 to consolidate resources around this goal. Its charge is to promote, encourage, facilitate and implement environmental, economic and socially responsible practices such as conservation, efficiency, preservation, preparedness, and systemic thinking within City operations and in the larger community.
SustainAbility
Founded in 1987, we've evolved alongside the broader sustainability agenda and helped to define and shape the unique role of business within it.
Sustainable Measures
From 1993 to 2014, Sustainable Measures provided a wide variety of consulting services to help governments, businesses and non-profits find appropriate, practical ways to contribute to the overall sustainability of their communities.
United States Environmental Protection Agency
EPA efforts in the area of sustainability practices and approaches include labeling green products and promoting green chemistry and engineering, managing materials rather than creating waste, using green infrastructure to manage storm water runoff, and supporting the sustainable design of communities.

Books in Your Library

Sustainability by Stephen Morse
Call Number: 338.927 MO
ISBN: 9780521835336
Publication Date: 2010-07-08
Encouraging students to engage in the challenges and complexity of sustainability, this text considers not only the theories underlying sustainability, but more importantly how theories are translated into practice and the difficulties of achieving this in the world in which we live.
Sustainability by Kanwalroop Kathy Dhanda; Scott T. Young
Call Number: 658.4083 YO
ISBN: 9781412982849
Publication Date: 2012-12-05
Sustainability: Essentials for Business is the first survey text of its kind to offer a comprehensive treatment of the relationship between business and sustainability.
Sustainability by Leslie Paul Thiele
Call Number: 338.927 TH
ISBN: 9780745656090
Publication Date: 2013-04-01
The pursuit of sustainability has generated lifestyle changes for individuals across the globe, widespread initiatives within civil society and business, historic policies for municipal, regional, and national governments, and crucial protocols and agreements by international organizations.

E-Books

Environment, Energy, and Economy by Yoichi Kaya (Editor); Keiichi Yokobori (Editor)
ISBN: 9280809113
Publication Date: 2004-01-01
This book discusses short-term and long-term measures for the economies and the direction of development in many countries.
Our Common Journey by National Research Council, Board on Sustainable Development Staff
ISBN: 0309067839
Publication Date: 1999-12-01
World human population is expected to reach upwards of 9 billion by 2050 and then level off over the next half-century.
Steering Business Towards Sustainability by Fritjof Capra (Editor); Gunter Pauli (Editor)
ISBN: 9280809091
Publication Date: 2004-01-01
Sustainability, in its ecological and social components, poses businesses an inescapable challenge: without sustainability there will be an end to profits.

Government Files

Fort Lauderdale Sustainability Action Plan
The City's plan will enable the City to manage greenhouse emission reductions, establish a comprehensive plan for allocating Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant funds, embark on a coordinated effort to conserve natural resources.
Learning From a Laureate: Science, Security and Sustainability
Hearing Before the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming from the House of Representatives
Securities and Exchange Commission Sustainability Plan
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is committed to the effort outlined in Executive Order (E.O.) 13514 to reduce energy consumption on a government wide level.
Sustainability and Efficiency Task Force
America’s security is closely intertwined with its energy use. A wisely planned sustainability policy that addresses issues of economy, conservation, and future viability will allow the United States to move toward a safer and more secure future.

Research Topics

Can the people of Earth continue to meet their needs and advance in areas such as technology while maintaining the planet's life support system?
What does “going green” mean, and how does it help the environment?
How does saving paper products through the utilization of computers and the internet affect the environment?
How do emissions and fumes from things such as air conditioners and automobiles affect human health?
How are some containers and packaging friendlier to the environment?
What is sustainable design and how can it be used in everyday life?
What is the difference between sustainable items and recyclable items?
How does green computing and other means of technological sustainability affect the environment?
What is regeneration harvesting and how does it compare to deforestation?
How is culture considered an important aspect of sustainable development in indigenous cultures?
What are the advantages of gasification in terms of sustainability?
How can corporations and industries utilize sustainable development in order to protect nature while serving their needs?
What sort of chemicals and toxins are released by air conditioning units and automobiles, and what sort of respiratory issues do they cause in humans?

Finding Books

Subject Guide

Victor Lawrence (Broward College)

Email Me

Contact:

Reference/Instructional Librarian

Broward College North Campus Library

Coconut Creek, FL 33066

954-201-2601

Key Terms

Carbon Footprint
Carbon Offset
Carbon Neutral
Climate Change
Cradle-to-Cradle
Cradle-to-Gate
Cradle-to-Grave
Dematerialization
Ecological Footprint
Emission
Energy Intensity
Energy Recovery
Environment Footprint
Environmental Impact
Environmental Impact Areas
Gate to Gate
Global Warming
Greenhouse Effect
Greenhouse Gases
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)
Life Cycle of a Product
Material Intensity
Non-Renewable Energy
Renewable Energy
Renewable Resources
Source Reduction
Sustainable Development
Sustainable Footprint
Sustainability
Triple Bottom Line
Waste-to-Energy

Sustainability: Home