rebeccmeister | Note to self: Sustainability

I passed by the office of a friend today and we got to chatting about stuff, as we are wont to do. Here's what I want to remember of the conversation: He had been asked if he would like to switch departments from our giant, biology-oriented one into the newly formed School of Sustainability. He felt resistant to the idea, but couldn't quite put his finger on why, until he heard a talk about what sustainability means.

The crux of the matter is this: the SoS actually wants to leave the definition of sustainability wide-open, because "sustainability" is being used as a catch-all term. Sustainability is actually one way to answer the question of how people should live their lives. It thus serves as a replacement for the western Judeo-Christian concept of God, which is also a[n] [intentionally] vague concept, a fact that shapes its use and utility. People clearly feel a need to look to some sort of outside force or concept to provide meaning for their lives, and this is equally true of atheists and non-atheists. If the concept were made too rigid, it would become more exclusionary.

This is an idea deserving further thought, because perhaps it can provide some insight into my simultaneous enthusiasm and frustration with the changing meaning of the word "green." I don't think that this revelation is a bad thing for sustainability; we humans do need guidance for how to live our lives (though it is an open question to be sure). But it helps to put the term in the appropriate framework so that it can be properly discussed.