Got Sustainability?

I'll be honest. When Dr. Van Horn and Jason said most people at the end of the semester are usually not capable of defining sustainability, I was skeptical. How could we not leave this course without a clearer understanding of what sustainability is, I wondered. And here I am... asking myself what sustainability means to me now, and I guess you guys were right.

It's just as impossible to come up with some defintion now, just like it was that one time in class. I mean really. Where do you start? I guess there is no easy answer, but judging from what I got out of the class overall, I would say it's everything I thought it was before (i.e., recycling, not being wasteful, etc.), and then some.

For starters, if I've gotten anything out of this class, it's at least a clearer understanding of what this whole sustainability thing entails. Probably the biggest lesson is that sustainability takes sacrifice. It means not doing what you want to do all the time. It means staying at home versus going out. It means staying local. It means taking shorter showers. It means not eating or consuming less meat. Basically, it means a change in lifestyle, which is definitley not an easy thing to do, but it's something that in the long run can benefit those that will be here years from now. It's about our future.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm right, maybe there just isn't an answer. I think the more important question is what is it that we could be doing to be more sustainable? What is it that we can sacrifice for the the greater good of our future? I believe this question is fundamental in shaping the defintion of sustainability for each individual person. Do this, challenge yourself, get out of your comfort zone, and soon enough you'll find what sustainabilty is.