In a sense, the principles help people to stay on course as they process the myriad bits of information and decisions involved in long-term planning. What is considered to be realistic never determines the direction of change, only its pace. The Natural Step sets out a framework within which development can be assessed as genuinely sustainable or not. That framework has been derived from an examination of the science underpinning the working of natural systems. Matter and energy tend to disperse.
Material quality is in the concentration and structure of matter.
We never consume energy or matter, only its structure and its ability to do work. There is value in order. In other words Plants create structure and order by using energy from sunlight. In nature, waste is continually broken down and reconstructed into new quality resources. In this cyclic process nature is continually replenishing itself.