Abstract

An examination of the historical references of sustainability and its progresses via an ancient historical perspective is reflected upon via a triple bottom line (TBL) approach. Since the historical chronologies of economic and social developments are much clearer in definition – the environmental side of the TBL approach is argued as the missing bottom line. Nature, in the context of anthropological records, is considered by examining ancient outlooks and their impacts on how changes in human actions liberalised specific outcomes from subsequent civilisations and from nature itself. This essay considers viewpoints from the Middle Ages to the end of the 19th Century; it also takes into consideration notions up to the environmental movement and argues needed action toward a harmonious development of environmentally-friendly societies.