The term "sustainability" was offered in 1987 by the United Nation’s World Commission on Environment and Development in its report Our Common Future. According to that document, "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Ultimately, the goal of sustainability is to enhance people’s well-being while living within the eco-system’s carrying capacity; so while the concept insists that we acknowledge many natural limits that we are currently denying, it also identifies many opportunities that we have overlooked.

A central principle of sustainability is the recognition of the interdependence of environmental, economic, and social equity concerns – these are the "three E’s.” They are often referred to as three legs of a stool – lacking just one means the stool will not stand; emphasizing one over the other puts us on uneven ground. We can begin choosing options that do not sacrifice one of the Es for another. We can make better choices as individuals and in our businesses, governments, and other institutions.

We want to develop sustainability because we want to be able to pass along to our children a community that they will thank us for. We do not want to deplete finite natural resources or weaken the economic and social structures that they will need to build their lives on. Rather, we should be responsible stewards of these resources that everyone depends upon. Thus, in the end, sustainability is not an option, but a necessity.

This conccept is now becoming reality all over the world. Imagine what it would be like to live in a safe, healthy community. World citizens are coming together to create a vision of what their community might be – and to develop steps toward making these visions come true. See www.sustainable.org for some great info.

In Costa Rica, places like the Punta Mona Center for Sustainable Living and Education are popping up like crazy. The Punta Mona Center is an 85-acre organic farm and educational retreat center located on the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. They teach environmental awareness and consciousness and welcome individuals and groups for short or long term visits. Promoting a sustainable way of living through example and education, they grow their own food organically, use eco-technologies, and create a sense of community. www.puntamona.org

Now some places like Punta Mona actually charge you money to “volunteer” your time and to live there. But the number of places world-wide who are looking for volunteers in exchange for room and board are endless. One great place to check for more information is and plenty of resources is intentionalcommunity.tribe.net.

So if you’re thinking about moving to Costa Rica, you might consider volunteering a little time in exchange for room & board and a chance to meet people amazing people working to form true and intentional “communities.”