Sustainability

ASU has done a lot to promote sustainability. They view it as a serious global issue that needs to be addressed, so what better way than opening a college devoted to this. ASU is the only college in the country to have a sustainability college. Micheal Crow, Dean of ASU, has really set the university apart by the college and what its students will do for the world.

Not many students think about how much of a "dent" they leave in the Earth. Few ponder how much water they used that day, paper used, power used, food eaten, etc., etc. That is a lot resources used and/or wasted by one person, and multiply that by the US population, and then the world! Month after month, year after year, how long can the Earth supply a human population that is only rising? the ecological footprint let's a person know how much they use. This activity puts into perspective exactly how much they're wasting.

There is a challenge with sustaining out resources because people are using more and more resources. Chuck Redman, a professor at the college of Sustainability, says that "we live in a finite world." He means that our resources are limited. There is only so much of everything on this earth. The tragedy is that once a resource, like water, is gone, it's hard for it to return.

Sustainability is different from conservation because it focuses on maintaining natural resources so our generation can live comfortably. It also foresees the resources available for the future generation and "how what we learn today will affect us, our children, and future generations." The foresight aspect of sustainability really sets it apart from other kinds of earth preservation.

We can all be very "rah, rah" for this cause because it sounds very good. But doing what's necessary to achieve sustainability creates dissention in people. Telling people they have to use power sparingly and cut that 20 minute shower down to 5 minutes is very hard for them to do. However, the foresight of sustainability will allow them to live comfortably in 50 years, as well as their children and grandchildren.

Sustainability is more than just a cause, it's a necessary means to keep the resources that make humans live. With the ever rising world population, how people do things must be changed in order for those coming after them to live a good life.