German word of the day: Nachhaltig

Why do I need to know nachhaltig?

Nachhaltig is a word that gets bandied around a lot at the moment - especially when it comes to marketing products - so it's useful to know what it means. You'll also hear it in a range of other contexts, from discussions about a city's development plans to tips for fighting climate change. 

What does it mean?

Nachhaltig (pronounced like this) means "sustainable" and is usually used to describe something that's done in an eco-friendly way. For instance, nachhaltige Entwicklung means "sustainable development", which could involve building with climate-friendly materials or ensuring space is conserved for future generations. 

With growing public awareness of the climate crisis, more and more companies have started to use the word nachhaltig as a way to demonstrate their green credentials. Of course, it's always worth checking if this is just a buzzword or an actual reflection of eco-friendly business practices, but it can be a helpful bit of shorthand if you want to buy products that are less damaging to the natural world. 

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If it sounds hard to remember, you can keep in mind that the word is made up of two other German words that you may already know: nach (meaning "after") and haltig (meaning "lasting" or "sustained"). In other words, if something is sustainable it lasts into the future and helps conserve resources for later generations.

If you want to talk about sustainability, simply add a "-keit" at the end to turn nachhaltig into a feminine noun: die Nachhaltigkeit. 

Use it like this:

Viele Firmen geben an, nachhaltig zu sein - aber stimmt das wirklich? 

Many companies claim to be sustainable - but is that really true?

Immer wenn ich Fisch im Supermarkt kaufe, wähle ich die nachhaltige Fischarten aus.

Whenever I buy fish in the supermarket, I choose the sustainable species of fish.