The New View (Sustainability 2.0)

I wish I had blogged earlier this weekend so our conversation, or should I say heated debate, over sustainability was still fresh in my mind. However, I can say my originial views of sustainability for the most part, still stand. They are more detailed though definitely. The layout of the class schedule helped me realize some of the different aspects of so-called "sustainability".

I guess since I'm vegan, I've always focused on eating in a way that I feel like lessens my impact on the environment. Even the food production week exposed me to new information though, with the King Corn movie. Man, that movie opened my eyes to something I would have never expected-that our country is based off of one vegetable. Like I've said in previous blogs, two of my siblings are allergic to corn. My brother is mildly allergic to corn, and he just decided to disregard his allergy and eat anything he wants and suffer from occasional migraines. My sister though, has extensive allergies and corn is on her "red list" which contain things that cause her serious health issues. While my brother has known the source of his problems for a long time, my sister just found her's out. So whenever I went home for Thanksgiving, I decided to give my sister's diet a try. Let me tell you, people think being a vegan sounds difficult, try living without corn.

Anywho, I definitely expanded upon my understanding of the different aspects of sustainability. For example, I always had a vague understanding that transportation=bad, but I honestly never thought much into solutions other than new alternatives to fuel and things along those lines. I really enjoyed the Rosenthal article about the German suburb that just didn't have cars at all. Who would've thought that could happen in modern society. During my technology fast, and I guess even being vegan, I felt so liberated not depending on things that everyone else seems to rely so heavily upon. I hope in the future I won't have a car, I definitely think if I plan it out correctly, its a very reasonable possibility.

And just to follow up on the discussion over whether we like the word "sustainability", I thought about it more, and my opinion still stands. I like the word sustainability. I know a lot of people were against the word because its so vague. If it truely is an environmentalist's goal to make the world a healthier place to live, then they should embrace a word that allows for personal interpretations. If someone takes it very loosely, and decides that simply recycling is going to produce a more sustainable environment, so be it! I feel like every drop sort of counts in the end, so no matter how you decide to translate sustainability into the actions you make in your life, its better than doing nothing. I think the ambiguity is its strong point, because it allows for the majority of the population to join the "sustainability movement". And I think environmentalists should be happy with this, even if some people are in it for shallow reasons, they're participating. Even if people are just doing it to be trendy, at least they're doing it.


In a perfect world, passing on my good habits is by definition "sustainability.