Negative entropy means that something is becoming less disordered. In order for something to become less disordered, energy must be used. This will not occur spontaneously. A messy, or disordered, room will not become clean, or less disordered, on its own. A positive (+) entropy change means an increase in disorder. The universe tends toward increased entropy. All spontaneous change occurs with an increase in entropy of the universe. The sum of the entropy change for the system and the surrounding must be positive (+) for a spontaneous process.