What is Sustainable Development?

When I first hear the words "sustainable development" the first image that pops into my mind is one of contradiction. It's like fire and ice, or hot and cold. I dont see how development can be made sustainable. I'll attempt to explain myself in this first blog post.

To me, something sustainable is balanced, at the very minimum. I'll provide an example and hopefully my meaning will be more clear. Lets take something from nature, like a predator prey relationship, such as rabbits and owls. Owl's eat rabbits, that's a given. There are many rabbits for every owl. Sometimes there will be lots of rabbits, which will provide lots of food. Owls will be able to sustain themselves, but eventually the rabbit population will drop, and so will the owl population. The rabbit population will start to increase, and so will the owl. There is a balance in the relationship, although it sometimes the balance will shift towards one end of the scale or the other.

I dont see how there is a balance in sustainable development. Development takes up resources, and doesn't put anything back. Using my example, it would be the owls eating all the rabbits, without leaving a few to ensure the population will be able to continue.

I come from Toronto, the most populated city in Canada. All of the land around Toronto is being converted from farmland to housing, rural to urban and suburban. Some developments tote themselves as being "green", which I find laughable. The Ontario government has a "places to grow" plan, which is supposed to curb growth and help make development more sustainable.
The plan will not work.

I suppose I've just been going off on a tangent, but the point I'm trying to make is that development can't be sustainable. It can be less harmful, to people and the environment, but I believe it cant be sustainable. The amount of resources needed to support a family in a new development is astronomical, and those resources will never be recouped.

I believe the only way to be close to being sustainable is to go back to a very modest way of living. The Native people of North America used every part of the animals they killed. I don't know how much a chicken gets used, but I'm sure there is some waste left over. I also believe that a family of 4 doesn't need a 3000 sq foot home and a tiny backyard. They would be better off, in my opinion, so settle with a 2000 sq foot home and have a larger backyard so they can grow their own food.

I believe the government should do a lot more to encourage people to be somewhat sustainable, at minimum more self sufficient. I know that in Toronto, its illegal to keep chickens as a source of eggs. Over turning a simple by-law like that would reduce the need to have eggs shipped from all over the province.

I hope I've somewhat answered the question as to what sustainable development is. I know that I answered what it's not. In time, as the course progresses, I'll be better able to answer the question.

My apologies to prof Chris Ling for having to read my tirade.