Sustainable Waterloo was founded in 2008 to help guide Waterloo Region towards a more environmentally sustainable future. Always provocative and inspiring, their next event, Educational Forum: Leaders in Sustainability will be held on Tuesday, November 23, 2010 from 7:30 am to 9:30 am at The Waterloo Inn at 475 King Street North, Waterloo.

This educational forum will feature InterfaceFLOR®, a global flooring manufacturer recognized in the industry as a worldwide leader in sustainability, design, production and sales of environmentally responsible carpet.

Checking out the InterfaceFLOR website, I was particularly interested in the various definitions of ’sustainability’ that they chronicle and make mention of on their ‘What is Sustainability?’ page. Here are two that particularly caught my attention:

1. Historically, the ’seventh generation’ philosophy of the Native North

American Iroquois Confederacy mandated that tribal chiefs always consider the effects of their actions on descendants seven generations in the future.

2. Forum For the Future recently defined sustainable development as: “a dynamic process that enables all people to realize their potential and improve the quality of life in ways that simultaneously protect and enhance the Earth’s life support systems.”

Personally, with the increasing concerns for the environment, I’m constantly reminded of my childhood camping days and the advise of my Scout Leader who instructed us to “always leave the camp site in better shape than when we arrived.”