Sustainability: Take 2

My thoughts on sustainability are ever changing, the more I learn about it the more I understand just how complex it really is. This class has really opened my eyes to not only other people’s actions, but my own actions. I know I have a lot more to learn about sustainability, but I have grown to really appreciate learning about it during this short class. Recently, I have met a lot of resistance toward the idea of sustainability or the idea of living responsibly from other people; which has made me want to become even more knowledgeable about this subject. I have learned through this, that maybe showing through example is quite possibly stronger than we think. Showing through example sparks a light in other people’s eyes; it allows them to question and want to learn more, but on their own terms. As Mary Anne Curran states in, Wrapping our Brains around Sustainability, “Sustainability is a destination that we aspire to reach with the selection of the sustainable pathways that we choose as we proceed along the journey” (6). Sustainability really is a journey, but not necessarily of right and wrong, but a journey of awareness, of the environment, of one’s self, and of one’s community. These different pathways that can be taken may vary for different people, but I do think that like Derrick Jensen states in Forget Shorter Showers, we need to remember “That humans can help the Earth as well as harm it”. Through sustainability, we should be able to meet our needs as humans, but without taking away the ability for future generations to live and succeed and without taking away the ability for other life forms to live and succeed.