What words come to mind when
you think of sustainability?
MONADNOCK EARTH JOURNAL
One of the rules to mind when speaking
about an issue as dynamic and multifaceted as sustainability is to never
assume everyone has the same idea of what that word means. I have a
different understanding of it now than I did three years ago, and by
Friday I will understand it differently still. Since I am interested in
how people form ideas about the environment in ways that are unique to
their own experiences, I took the chance during a ride home from
community supper this week to ask my son’s two teenage friends to give
me the first words that come to mind when I say, “sustainability.” Their
answers were interesting. The first friend said, “Vegetables?” The
second friend answered, “intelligence.” Now, let’s look at these two
word associations.
Friend One’s answer might reflect things
he’s learned in school, at home, or from the Internet about the
environmental impacts of food, such as the fact that the typical
American meat-based diet demands many times more soil, water, and fuel
and creates much more waste in its production, processing, packaging,
transportation, storage, marketing and consumption than a plant-based
diet does. It might reflect his awareness of the local food movement,
which is not entirely new (and definitely is not easy) but is thankfully
getting more attention in the media and in our region, where small
family and community farms are valued. Or, it might be that grocery
chains and food companies have simply been doing a great job of making
the values connection for consumers who want to be good planetary
citizens and view eating vegetables and eating organically as a way to
do that. Maybe a combination of all three and more. The response is
interesting because it’s a piece of tangible (actually, edible) evidence
that sustainability is possible, and it opens an opportunity for people
to engage in it. Younger people should be involved because their
ability to nourish themselves and their families in future rests on
choices we make about food systems today. Older people should be
involved because many have skills related to growing and preparing fresh
foods that are not so common today. They also have perspectives about
how the landscape of local farms and communities has changed over the
years, perspectives that are valuable in making those choices about food
systems now.
Friend Two’s answer, as I learned when I
asked for more explanation, has to do with thinking ahead, carefully
considering all the consequences of our actions, trying as a society not
to shoot ourselves in the foot. A pretty mature perspective for a
14-year-old, and not something even adults do well most days.
Intelligence is indeed related to sustainability, although I would
suggest that it’s not just about science, economics, or even
problem-solving in general. We need all kinds of intelligences to make a
sustainable world. Artistic and imaginative intelligence (something
these friends have in common); compassionate and heart-centered
intelligence; the intelligence that comes with spending time with the
natural landscape and getting to know its cycles; the collective
intelligence of whole communities. We just have to look around us to
find it, and when we do, we can find hope. Temple Grandin has a lot to
say on this topic, and there’s hardly a better example of what amazing
things can happen when intelligence and will combine.
Thanks to our friends, you now have proof
that (a) teenagers actually do think about deep subjects, and (b)
sustainability isn’t just a far-fetched goal but a lively,
down-to-earth, worthwhile challenge where we all have something to give –
and receive.
