Definition Of Sustainable Development:
Don't Violate Natural Law

Use the laws of physics, the laws of nature to accomplish anything. But use them properly. That is, use them holistically, in such a way that the common denominator of all the laws; the law of least action is not violated.

Most of our modern technologies have been developed on the basis of the discovery of one or several laws of nature that open up new possibilities for progress. For example: Newton described laws of motion. An object set in motion will remain in motion. Combining that with the understanding of gravity and a few other laws we built satellites.

But something must be missing in our understanding because there has to be constant recalibration otherwise the satellites fall into the earth's atmosphere of go flying off if the speed is not absolutely perfect. http://www.metaresearch.org/cosmology/gps-relativity.asp

Sustainable means it can be sustained. How is it that the planets and the moon around earth don't run into the same problem of needing constant recalibration to continue in their orbits? Are they more sustainable than our satellites? What is missing in our technological development that makes man made products less sustainable than natural systems?

The information that needs to be added to the understanding and practical applications of modern science and technology is how to fully use the law of least action in the same way that natural systems do. This is why researchers today spend time looking into how things are done in natural phenomena, and trying to replicate or mimic what they observe to improve modern technologies. When this information is available our technological creations will be as sustainable as natural systems.