Here we go again

The first go at this I wanted to look at one very specific part of sustainability, reusability. Just as I’ve switched from “Global Warming,” to “Global Climate Instability,” I want to switch from using the word “Sustainability,” to... something else. Sustainability is a process of renewal that perpetuates itself. It is a adverb that has been nouned, and I think that it’s a good encompassing goal for now, but it still lacks the spiritual component of a total lifestyle change that is required to live a more balanced life. Ultimately Sustainability and my intensive discussion of Environmentalism over the past semester has lead me to a distinct conclusion: That one critical part of establishing an effective understanding of the land goes beyond that of passive participation in living on the earth, but active understanding and recognition of your place on it. In our post-industrial lives we live in streams of human information, awash in a see of people and cultures, but we often lack a connection to land itself. Without that component our view is unhinged and we are more ready to exploit the earth for it’s resources. So what is Sustainability?

Ultimately what I believe Sustainability aims to be is an alternate future. As it has been co-opted by neo-liberal/conservative voices it is simply one more aspect of the development of resource, however Sustainability at its core acts as a separate strand of thinking altogether. Now I believe Sustainability to be more than just another lifestyle that compares to products, but a real coalescing thing. One aspect that is far from discussed is the spiritual aspect that is required of it. This is a part of the environmental movement that focuses on individuals building closer relationships with the land itself. Not only enacting stewardship, but also creating a bond between people and land itself. It is this spiritual connection which is implicit in our occasional use of the word, but not an explicit goal of the word itself. So how do we inject this added layer of meaning to an oft used word? I don’t believe we can, and that is part of the reason I still wish to change it. As sustainability becomes more and more a brand and is co-oped by neo-liberal/conservative voices the more we find it hijacked. I don’t want to see this movement, like so many others converted into a commoditized brand before it can ever be affective, especially given its importance. So - what is sustainability?

Sustainability is not only the process of creating a self sustaining system which recycles wastes into creation, but also the development of societies which maintain and exalt these systems. It is achieving a relationship between man and nature as well as man to man that fosters a stable future.