Being from a very rural part of the country, I was raised in the midst of nature. My small, isolated town in south-central Idaho is nestled in the Wood River Valley which cuts through four major mountain ranges and soars at its 6,500 foot elevation above sea level. The air is thin and crisp and the landscape is simply spectacular. About 20 minutes north of my house, the alpine region of Idaho begins with thick pine forests, mountain peaks that are covered with snow even on the hottest summer day, and is inhabited by moose, bears, wolves, bobcats, bald eagles and many others. However, traveling about 35 minutes south of my house, the high desert region stretches down to the Nevada border. The sagebrush covered camas prairie stretches for miles and is home to cacti, rattle snakes, scorpions, jackrabbits and coyotes. Living in between these two very distinct habitats causes my family and the other members of my community to constantly experience severe weather events. We have all had to evacuate our homes four separate times due to wildfires. Houses have been washed down the river during the spring runoff severe flood season and lives are lost every winter as a result of catastrophic avalanches. We all have a healthy respect of the nature that surrounds us and fully understand how dangerous the frontier lifestyle can be. Because of our severe weather events and the fact that we are so remote, (the nearest airport is 3 hours by car over through the prairie), we are raised to from infancy with sustainable practices. For example, in my home, we have no heat or air conditioning. During the sub-zero alpine winter, we chop wood and burn fires in our fireplaces to keep warm. We hunt for much of our own meat and we partner with local ranchers to get what we cannot grow ourselves. Everything is a whole community effort; that is how we survive the harsh conditions. We live because of the land, not in spite of it. Sustainability is a way of life for us because it is a necessity and we cherish our culture and system. I feel that now, more than ever, it is important for everyone around the world to be more conscious of their environmental impact and inform themselves on ways that they can reduce their footprint. Sustainability is incredibly important to me and my hope is that sustainable practices will become more common and widely used everywhere.