By what standards?

Sustainability is a nice word to throw around. People feel good committing actions that they feel are "green," "environmentally friendly," or "sustainable," but in truth, most people have little better than a vague understanding of any of these concepts. While it is generally understood, especially among people of our generation, that current practices in almost every aspect of life will quickly deplete the earth's resources, damage natural ecosystems, and numerous other apocalyptic sounding events, the details that could change these things are often poorly understood, at best, as well as often being hotly contested.

The question to start with is by what standards are we to measure sustainability. In broad terms, this could mean carbon footprint, energy usage, or the effects of a persons individual food consumption on the environment. If one is concerned with their carbon footprint or energy usage, then their best option for being "sustainable" is to remove themselves from the "grid" as much as possible. This comes through methods such as using solar and wind energy on private residences to reduce draw from the power grid, wells and rainwater catchment systems to remove from the water system, and other methods which provide alternatives to the current system's sources for these services. Gardening and even owning a few small livestock can reduce one's consumption of industrialized food, even to the extent of kitchen scraps feeding a pig or goat, which provides meat, or even, in the case of the goat, milk. Many sustainable practices are not new developments, but ancient practices that gain new value in the light of the popularly styled "environmental crisis."

Other standards include how "sustainable" a person desires, or can afford, to be. Some people may want to be so sustainable that they actually leave no "trace" except a corpse that decomposes to feed plants and give new life, while others may want to draw from the earth's resources an amount of energy and substance enough that their effort can equally put back in, in effect allowing another person to use the same amount of resources to perpetuity. Some may want to only be sustainable enough to make the earth's resources last for their individual lifetime, in which case their lifestyle will probably be successful at that level.

Sustainability is a vague goal, but striving for this ghostly muse will allow us a lens through which to view our world and actions, so that we may, hopefully, be able to pass on the world to future generations. Instead of a general consensus of practices that qualify for this goal, it is far better to have a multitude of diverse opinions that will, through competition, reveal feasible opportunities for all people.

Sustainable Practices

Sustainability is a word that I feel like we are expected to understand. It isn't necessarily a difficult concept, but I often only think of it as applying to an 'obvious' environmental sphere. It is easy to identify sustainable practices that directly impact the environment; however, there are so many other, less obvious, ways that one can be sustainable. I know that I'm supposed to conserve water and recycle and keep the environment clean, but I also think that I'm limiting myself by only thinking of sustainability in terms of the environment. Reusing clothing, dishes, pans, picture frames (and other items) can also contribute to sustainable practices. I often realize that I'm buying things that I don't necessarily need just because I can. A friend of mine buys new silverware and dishes every year, and that is also a contributing factor to unsustainable practices.

While reusing these items and not excessively buying things that I don't need, also impacts the environment it is less talked about than practices such as water conservation. Sustainability is ensuring that we have enough resources to support all living things. We have become so enthralled with new things we forget that they are not what really contribute to our livelihood. I hope to become more aware of how closely every decision I make affects the lives of people (animals and plants as well) around me.

Sustainability

To me, sustainability means responsibility, respect, consciousness, knowledge, and creativity. One goal of human life existence should be to leave this planet, in a sense, the way we found it; in a way in which no one would know you once walked on this earth. The act of being sustainable, in my mind, is to meet our needs as humans, without taking away the ability for future generations to live and succeed. Whether riding your bike around town, not letting the water run, turning off the lights when you leave a room, recycling, or eating locally grown produce, anyone can work toward being sustainable. Even small steps like these make a large difference in the long run. If everyone could reduce their ecological footprint, even by just a little, the world would be in much better shape now and in the future.

"I see trees of green...red roses too..."

One name that sticks out in my mind the most when I hear the word "sustainability" is Edward O. Wilson. Wilson is a well-known scientific writer that addresses many "green" topics- more specifically, biodiversity. I believe his words can often pack a powerful punch into his readers' minds when it comes to conserving the most precious gift given to us that continues to give back everyday- Planet Earth. He provides some statistics as well that often scare his readers...well, they scared me at least. His book The Future of Life is a short and easy read that is very dense with information about how biodiversity and conservation are essential to surviving in this world. After reading his book, I understood the ethical responsibility that we all have to retain our natural resources so that our great-great-great-grandchildren may have all the opportunities that we have now due to Mother Nature. Some of these include the prevention of hundreds of diseases due to various plants or even the ability to drive your car to work. Unfortunately, this fast-paced society we live in sometimes helps us to neglect this ethical liability to make our earth last as long as it can. I believe that we're all to blame when it comes to not always "being green." I know that I produce more garbage than I should on a daily basis and can also be seen occasionally with the water running while I brush my teeth. This doesn't stop us, however, from doing something as a community to help the situation. As we all see in some aspect in our lives, playing a small role can often lead to a large outcome. For instance, dropping your spare change in a jar everyday until eventually you have enough to pay for that family vacation. Sustainability is a key role in producing this great outcome. Although frustrating at first, we must be conscious of what we are doing so that eventually conserving our environment becomes a habit. Efficiency is key in order to make this beautiful world last as long as possible.

What is Sustainability?

Sustainability is about acknowledging the choices in our lives that have negatively impacted our global environment and finding ways to improve those choices in order to ensure the availability of resources in the future. Although it is commonly used to bring awareness to the global problem of limited resources worldwide, only when practiced at the individual level can we truly appreciate and understand the strong need to integrate sustainability methods into our daily lives. As a powerful method to understand the need to conserve resources, sustainability not only makes us aware of how wasteful our society has become, more importantly, it offers alternatives that can help us positively change the future in which we and our future generations will live in. Furthermore, sustainability has a strong correlation with modern technology as our lives increasingly become more dependent on it. However, if we alter the way it influences our lives it could become a great resource in helping us become a more sustainable society.

Stop and smell the roses

In this fast-paced world, we often loose sight of the things that should be the most important to us. Rarely do we stop to enjoy the colors, the sounds, and the aroma of Nature. In the long run, an appreciation for Nature is the key to preserving it. What motivation would there be to preserve blue skies if one never bothered to look up in the first place? So, in addition to saving electricity, recycling, and composting materials, I think that sustainability should include taking the time out of one's day to "stop and smell the roses".

Defining Sustainability

I think of the interaction between humans and the environment. Sustainability is the balance of giving as much as you take. It is taking action that has as little negative impact as possible. It is being conscious of our place in the system that supports us. I have heard repeatedly that sustainability is a goal that we are continuously striving toward. To look forward to an environmentally healthy future we need to investigate mistakes and implement new ideas for solutions.

Sustainability.

Sustainability is a continous process of people conserving resources and making more enviromentally catious choices in order to perseve the world for generations to come. Sustainablilty includes population control, recycling, choosing to ride a bike instead of taking your car, not wasting food, and using reusable bottles instead of plastic pre-packaged bottles. Being sustainable is helping to renew the world and keep it live and healthy. If we do not take steps to save our enviroment their will be nothing left for future generations or maybe even ourselves, this is why it is very important for everyone to make certain more enviromentally friendly choices in their lives.

Full of Hope :)

First off, I'm really impressed with everyone's posts so far! I'm super excited to be sharing a class with such insightful people!

Much of my personal understanding of sustainability stems from my knowledge of our not sustainable practices. Being vegan has really opened my eyes to things that I did on a regular basis without realizing their impact on the world. For example, while I realized my diet did have an impact on the environment, I never took it the next level. What I ate had an impact on the environment, the environmental changes impacted animal and human populations, those populations inhabit the same Earth I'm living on, and their doings sooner or later came back to impact me. I could rattle of statistics that impressed me about how changing to a vegan diet is so much less damaging to our world, but I don't want to turn this blog and/or class into a "Emily Advocates Being Vegan" lecture. That never works out too well, haha. Also, my awareness of my diet is only a portion of what I think I should be doing to be more sustainable. As the time for this class to start approached, my daily activities became more noticable in just how not sustainable they were. I know turning off the lights is a respectable practice, but I realized how often I decide to be lazy and turn my back to my light switch across the room. I was taught in kindergarten to turn off the water while I'm brushing my teeth, but as my roommate and I do our nightly routine together, I saw the gallons of water running down our constantly flowing sink. Sustainability to me is our fight to preserve the environment that we still have, and our attempts to reverse the damage that we have done in our past. I have much hope for the future though. Even though I think this whole "green" movement is relatively shallow for in of the public, it's a deeper puddle than it's been in the past. And with this, more jobs have been created in which we really can make a legitimate difference.

Fair Trade

Sustainability in general to me means being able to continue forever in some kind of cycle for an infinit amount of time. I think that these kinds of cycles are almost exclusively found in nature, and go on all around us without us even realizing. Today, the word sustainability is often used to describe one's diet, agricultural practices, along with the management of raw materials, and even animal populations. Personally, when I think of sustainability I think of my first visit to Southwestern University as a prospective student. After my flight arrived in Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, I was waiting for a cab and noticed a green bumper sticker slapped on a pole of something that I can't remember. It was forrest green with a golden tree emerging from between the words in the website "FincaBellavista.net." A week or so later when I was on my computer, I remembered the bumpsticker and visited the website. I was really intrigued by finding that it was in fact a 350 acre sustainable treehouse community in the rainforest of Costa Rica, just six miles from Golfo Dulce. They use practices like hydroelectric and solar power, zip-lining from one treehouse to another for transportation, and recycling what little waste they do have, and still being carbon neutral. With a large river and beautiful waterfall running through the community, I picture this as the ideally sustainable situation- not just living harmoniously with nature, but living comfortably and enjoyably with nature.

http://www.fincabellavista.net

a phrase to live by

This might sound cheesy but I'm ok with that. I was a girl scout from an early age and one phrase that my troop ingrained in my mind was "leave the place better than you found it". I'm not quite sure why this is what I thought of when asked about sustainability because I think that sustainability goes beyond that phrase. Sustainability is living in a renewable way. Right now, I do not believe that it is possible to live with 100% sustainability. However if we apply the girl scout goal and we leave this place in a better state for future generations, hopefully the continued improvement can lead to a sustainable world.

For our grandchildren

I suppose sustainability to me means living in such a way that future generations have the same chance the previous generation did to make use of the Earth's resources. For this to be true, our generation must live with out degrading the land. A continuous degradation can not be sustainable, because eventually the earth will be so destructed that it is no longer able to sustain life. An acceptance of the sustainable philosophy often requires a person to see the intrinsic value in non-human life forms. While I definitely believe in the incalculable value of the non-human lives on this earth, I do not believe the acceptance of this idea is necessary to understand the importance of sustainability. A sustainable philosophy simply requires looking towards the future, and considering future lives. With each action we take, to be sustainable, we must keep our grandchildren and our grandchildren's grandchildren in mind. (Disclaimer: Since our population growth rate isn't sustainable, hopefully many of our grandchildren will be adopted.)

Respecting Nature

Sustainability can be associated with many things, but is most commonly associated with the environment. Environmentally speaking sustainability is the process of using resources at a rate that can be replenished in a reasonable amount of time. This includes preserving the integrity of certain things such as soil and water systems. This is essential, because without maintaining the basics of an environment, the ecosystem cannot replenish itself. In order to live sustainably it is important that one learns everything they can about their environment and tries to lessen their negative impact on the ecosystem. Being sustainable also means trying to increase positive impacts on the environment. Some examples of positive environmental impacts would be to maintain the soil integrity by planting a variety of flora and composting, or recycling to be less wasteful. I strive to be more sustainable by recycling, being conscious of my energy usage, and respecting the natural world. Respect for the environment combined with knowledge of environmental impacts is crucial to maintain sustainability because if you lack respect then there is no motivation to become sustainable. The earth is an amazing ecosystem that provides a tremendous amount of resources, which can be utilized by people. However, if the environment is not cared for then it will no longer be able to provide these resources for people and other living beings. This is what environmental sustainability is all about, maintain the environment in order to continue to be able to sustain life. The community is crucial in overall sustainability. In order to create a sustainable society communities of people, (ideally all people), must become sustainable.

Philosophy of Sustainability

I view sustainability as a lifestyle philosophy that influences one's decision-making process. In contrast to the current tradition of "end of the pipe" solutions, sustainability involves accounting for the future when making decisions in the present. Specifically, one must consider the availability of resources and the condition of the planet that future generations will be left to deal with. In essence, the philosophy of sustainability is one of respect and selflessness, not only with respect to the earth but also with respect to future humans.

Living in suburban areas for all of my life, it is difficult to classify exactly how sustainability relates to such communities, namely because the focus of most aspects of said communities is cost-effectiveness rather than environmental protection. Sadly, sustainable practices are all but nonexistent in the "modern" suburb, instead reserved for hippies and farmers outside city limits (Austin being one of few exceptions to this assumption). Despite this, I feel that greater knowledge and use of sustainable practices could prove helpful in a variety of ways. For example, if individuals of a community adopt such practices, one would suspect the feelings of community and caring for others to grow, leading to a more positive and wholesome living environment for all, and tearing down the metaphorical fences that so prominently separate suburban households.

What is sustainability? Take one

When I think of "sustainability", the infinity symbol is the first image that pops into my head. Currently, I see being "sustainable" as living in a way that ensures my personal survival while also maintaining and regenerating the health of the complex world around me - ecologically and socially. As of now, issues of sustainability help to teach me how I can contribute towards a just and sound global equilibrium, while also encouraging me to understand my place in the world more holistically.

These issues also make me think of those ecological footprint quizzes that Lili mentioned last Tuesday - I took one again while writing this paragraph and I was unpleasantly surprised to find that we would apparently need 3.05 Earths if everyone on the planet lived my lifestyle. I liked to think that I was a more conscious, sustainable consumer but my current standard of living is obviously still extremely excessive. This quiz made me wonder, what would a sustainable future look like? How is life as-so-many-of-us-know-it going to have to change in order to achieve these necessary goals?

Sustainability

I feel that my personal conception of sustainability is based on a philosophy that connects me more to my fellow man than to the ideal of the natural world. For me living sustainably is about being a good neighbor and a good steward. It stems from a desire to live a life that doesn't harm others. Living sustainably is kind of like sharing. When I limit my consumption and reduce my waste, I free up resources so that others may use them.
Of course putting these views into practice does require an understanding of the "natural" order of life. Be it a complex knowledge of my local ecosystem, or knowing where my food comes from. Being able to live a truly sustainable and therefore equitable life, requires a continual revaluation of both the "natural" systems of the world and the seemingly "unnatural" or man made systems of the world. I think an understanding of sustainability that limits itself to how I personally interact with the natural world is too limited and knowing things like my place in systems of privilege and oppression such as class hierarchy is equally important. I think sustainability is trying to live a simple life in a complex word.

Rip Roaring.

Sustainability is a broad term that encompasses many aspects of the environmental movement, but the one that I most enjoy is that of Reuse. The reuse of goods is essential to my vision of the term sustainable. I feel as if there exists a need for goods that are beyond limited use. Often older things, things built to last evoke this simply in their construction, however that is not always true. In order to combat planned obsolescence we must reconsider the way in which consume and what we consume. The materials and construction of goods is important and understanding the interaction of the different parts in any good creates a better thing.
Sustainability is the goal of the environmental movement. The creation of a system that turns output into input. In order to transition into a more sustainable system we must first develop goods that are more ecologically sound through both their manufacturing and use. The more we prize well made longer lasting goods the more readily we can remove ourselves form the chain of refuse that were currently enslaved to. This also means self-reliance. Learning to repair goods that we have previously used and reusing perfectly good items that have since been abandoned, in that way we can extend the life of the goods that already exist. Sustainability and reaching that goal must first start with simply using less.

The cyclical nature of sustainability

As demonstrated today in class, sustainability is cyclical in its nature. For a practice to be completely sustainable one must be able to repeat it endlessly. In today's world this seems nearly impossible, as even recycling things uses a nonrenewable resource-water. Therefore, our "sustainable practices" must simply strive to come as close to being as completely sustainable as possible. The 1987 UN conference defines sustainable developments as those that "meet the needs of the future generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their needs." Although this definition is admirable and we still have yet to met this definition of sustainable development around the world, it is far to focused solely on humans. One must simply refer to nature to discover the epitome of sustainability. Again a cyclical model comes to mind. Animals die and decomposers use the energy stored in them, while creating soil which sustains plants and thus the relatives of the animal which died, as well as many others. It is quite obvious that everything is related, and therefore we must not base our definition on ourselves and our descendants alone. Because of this, a connection and sense of oneness with our environment are closely tied in with the idea of sustainability. This connection allows for a more sustainable world view as one relates to not only other humans, but also to other species. We must realize our dependence on many things other than ourselves to truly realize the implications of not being sustainable.
Coming from Austin, sustainability has always been a part of my community. Currently, many rallies are being held to decrease and completely end Austin's dependence on coal. Furthermore, integrating sustainable practices have much effect on any community. If it is done poorly, only the wealthy benefit. But incorporating sustainable practices have benefited poorer communities in Austin. One of the more significant of these is weatherization programs, which have been quite successful in Austin as of late. As a part of the global community, sustainability is obviously an extremely important topic, as there are many problems surrounding a lack of it.

Sustainability - the first personal opinion

When one thinks of sustainability, here are some ideas that probably come to mind: recycling, conservation of resources, and use of renewable resources. Most people could probably point out some things that are sustainable such as taking short showers or leaving the lights off all day, but there are many other ways to be sustainable in addition to these small daily habits. Buildings, for example, can be built according to the natural resources of the location. The building materials could all be local products, the design of the building could be made to have optimal light inside according to the time of year and therefore lower the heating costs. Extra precautions can be taken only when necessary, for example a building in the desert probably does not need to have mold protection. The interior design can also be sustainable by using organic cotton or recycled products. Furthermore, sustainability could apply to the production of the building, like trying to use heavy equipment with less pollution or not use heavy equipment at all. Constructing a building is just one way that humans can sustain the world outside of their everyday lives.

My hometown, Reno, Nevada, does not contribute greatly to sustaining the world, but it does have the potential to be. It is a desert so it is sunny more than 90% of the year, and therefore would be a great location for large-scale solar panels and the land is cheap and vast so that would be even easier. The location is near a large mountain range so there are high winds off of the mountains as well as many rivers running down from the mountains, both of which are ideal for wind or water turbines. Furthermore, Nevada has low taxes for businesses so for an electrical business to buy large plots of land and use renewable resources to provide electricity to people, the business would probably profit largely. Although my personal contributes to sustainability are now limited to my daily actions, when I have my own career I plan on focusing on making a larger contribution to sustaining the world.

Sustainability is the ability to preserve the world, the environment, and the life in it. Most people probably think of sustainability in a strictly environmental sense, which is important, but it’s also worthy to note that sustaining the earth does not simply result in a healthier planet, it results in the continuation of the human race. Without our planet, there is no culture, no wars and peace, no government, no families, no pets, no human beings. When people think about taking care of the environment, they should think about taking care of their home and their family because without a planet those things would not exist. That being said, humans have a duty to care for and preserve the environment they live in not only because it is their home but also because it is necessary for their survival.

What is Sustainability?

A conscious effort to regain a sense of community and recover our sense of place within our natural systems is essential in an era where society has lost touch with the ways in which the greater ecosystems affect every aspect of life.  This is especially true within the current industrial and economic landscape, where we are often blind to how the regional features of the land work within our community.  Environmental consequences, such as drought, have a much less direct effect on daily life in the industrialized, developed world. 

Our natural drive to protect life is a choice we must make, since technology allows us to move toward domination over nature in ways earlier cultures could not.  Stephen Jay Gould said “We cannot win this battle to save species and environments without foraging an emotional bond between ourselves and nature as well, for we will not fight to save what we do not love.”  Once we consider the ecological processes that sustain life when we make decisions will we begin to grasp a concept of sustainability.  Sustainability is not just an effect of sound environmental policy, but a mindset that allows us to become one with nature, not separate from.  

Lifestyle Project

Welcome class! Here's where you will post (and read other people's posts) for our Introduction to Sustainability course. In addition to your three individual journal entries about your Lifestyle Project, I expect you to actively engage with your peers by respectfully commenting on their posts. This blog is also an excellent forum to post your ideas, links, and thoughts about sustainability generally. I hope you find it to be a useful tool for our course and beyond.

all best,

Dr. Van Horn