What sustainability means to me

One of my favorite classes I took in high school was AP Environmental Science. On the first and last day, my teacher gave a very in-depth explanation of the greenhouse effect. He did this to ensure that if we were to only take away one thing from that class, it would be how this process worked. It was that very first day of class that sparked my passion for environmental sustainability, and I have been doing things to help the environment ever since. For example, it only took until the APES midterm for me to completely change my diet. As soon as I learned about how disastrous the factory farm industry was to global climate change, I essentially decided to boycott the concept of factory farming as a whole. I stopped consuming all animal products immediately. I then did my own research outside of class that only validated my decision to live a vegan lifestyle.
To me, environmental sustainability means being able to generate power, get rid of waste, etc., with minimal detriments to our planet. We live in a world that may, on a basic level, appear alright, however the number of excess greenhouse gases that are trapping the heat in our atmosphere is skyrocketing. With advancements in technology, and an expanding knowledge of the root of environmental problems, I believe a healthy planet should be sustained, and that all life on earth can and deserves to thrive.

Human Extinction !?

Amitabha Stupa & Peace Park, Sedona, Arizona

Before discovering the wonderful world of Political Science, I had always found myself looking at things in a more pragmatic way than others. I’ve grown to understand that sustainability means more than just maintaining a balanced rate of our resources, to avoid depletion for our future generations. I now know that sustainability is bigger than the human existence and that we should work to not only sustain our resources but find renewable alternatives to them as well. In doing so, we take a step back to remember that we share these valuable resources with all other living beings on Earth, and that life will exist long after human extinction. I believe that we should think sustainably beyond our natural resources, but also to our fellow species that inhabit this beautiful planet that we all share. There is much conversation on how to sustain human life on Earth, though I believe we should use our knowledge to sustain all life on Earth, even after the human race is gone.

Sustainability Blog #1

From spending summers in Beijing, to months in Australia and New Zealand my view on what sustainability means has drastically changed. To me, sustainability is defined as something that can be managed and maintained over time at a controlled rate. In the context of environmental climate change, and with this definition, clearly climate change has not been environmentally sustained. The New York Times published an article, Pollution May Dim Thinking Skills, which emphasizes how the world is not sustainably maintaining the environment. The results of this longitudinal study suggest that pollution can negatively influence people’s language production, processing, math skills, and increased risk for Alzheimer’s and respiratory disease. China’s carbon dioxide emissions have increased over the previous year, even though the country has been setting climate change goals. At this rate of pollution, scientists predict that by the year 2030, about 75.6 million people will suffer from Dementia. The goal of this study is to increase awareness about the negative effects of climate change and to prevent developing and developed countries from increasing carbon dioxide emissions. Individuals should reflect and take a step back and track their carbon footprint – such as are there places where you drive, and should walk instead? What temperature do you keep your air conditioner on?

Australia study abroad 2017 – Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

Blog #1

As an Environmental Policy major and environmentalist I am extremely passionate about how the preserve the benefits that our natural world provides for us.  So far what that has meant to me is educating myself and others in the best way I know: talking.  Communication across all different interest groups and demographics is an integral and unavoidable step in the fight against climate change but it also tends to be one of the largest barriers that exists in our world today.  Not only in cultural and economic instances but also in political and academic instances, communication about climate change needs to be more inclusive and cohesive.  My personal motivation for taking this class is to learn skills and techniques to make me a more well-rounded environmentalist so I have the ability to connect people through knowledge.

New Zealand Mini-Term Winter 2017