Emily Smith

            During my last semester at Dickinson College, I participated in the Baird Sustainability Fellows program.  The colloquium brought together 12 students from diverse backgrounds and interests to discuss sustainability.  We discussed sustainability at large, within our town’s community, and on campus.  As part of the colloquium, we were prompted to formulate our own definitions of sustainability.  When I sat down to think about my “version” of sustainability, I wondered to myself, “Do I really have a unique definition of sustainability?  Do I truly have something new to offer?”  After a few moments of self-doubt, I realized that each of the Baird Fellows, including myself, really does have a unique perspective on sustainability.  In fact, it is the union of all of these diverse viewpoints that truly makes sustainability sustainable.  A one-size-fits-all approach to sustainability would be ineffective; only bringing together several facets of sustainability engenders real change.  When I reflect on our group, it is easy to see how each of us is important to the future of sustainability.  From those of us involved in social justice issues to those of us entrenched in groundbreaking scientific research, all of us are crucial to advancing the mission of sustainability.  When we leave Dickinson, each of us will go forward into a new community prepared to lead sustainable lives and advocate for important changes.  It is this diversity that will enable sustainability to grow as a field and as a worldview.    

 

            I came to Dickinson enthralled by the possibilities of participating in the sustainability and environmental programs, working on the farm, and getting involved in activism.  Once on campus, I found a different niche.  I joined the Political Science and English departments, and have focused primarily on social justice issues in my coursework and personal life.  However, I brought my interest in environmental sustainability with me to these seemingly separate pursuits.  Eventually, I learned how to integrate my interests in social justice with my interests in the environment.  These interests have nicely converged under the term “sustainability” since it represents three aspects of the human experience, the social, economic, and environmental.  I am continually learning that sustainability is a multi-faceted and highly useful tool, a rubric, for any pursuit.  I am learning that sustainability is a true hallmark of an interdisciplinary education.  And, I am learning that each decision I make must take into account all of these considerations. 

 

            I have always lived by two philosophies: first, be grateful, and second, give back.  Thinking critically about sustainability has really enhanced these ideas for me.  I reflect on how I move through the world, the things that make my movement possible, what I interact with, what I take for granted and what I cherish.  I can be grateful for the sustainability efforts of generations before me for my current life.  At the same time, I reflect on how I move through the world, and think about how I can make moving through the world easier for those who follow after me.  Sustainability is about seeing the big picture, removing yourself from the limitations of the present and entering into a relationship with temporality.  What must we preserve for the future?  What must we end for the future?  And most importantly, what must we create for the future?  I believe sustainability is a key which unlocks these questions.  These questions consider both the finite reality of the Earth and its resources, but also the infinite possibilities of improvement, equality, justice, and compassion.  Sustainability encourages us to look beyond ourselves in our present time and entrusts us with the future.  Being grateful has two parts.  It is partly being grateful for the opportunities we have, and partly recognizing what parts of our experience must be changed or preserved.  Giving back, too, has two parts.  It is partly working to preserve the good, and partly working to change the bad.  Sustainability-mindedness capitalizes on these two dispositions to create a maximum impact. 

 

            Sustainability is too often discussed through apocalyptic rhetoric and finitude.  I choose to view it, however, as an opportunity to begin.  Sustainability is not just about what we need to stop doing (or else we ruin some resource, some environment, etc.), it is also about what we need to create.  My goals of gratitude and giving back have helped me to see this important distinction in sustainability rhetoric.  I have tried to always be building in my experiences in sustainability. 

 

            When I worked at Dickinson’s Center for Sustainability Education (CSE), it was my mission to bring sustainability into the minds of more Dickinsonians.  By enhancing outreach and making sustainability a tangible goal for everyone, I believe that CSE’s efforts would be much more impactful.  I focused my energy on creating or adapting programs to get a broader range of students involved; in doing so, I believed it would begin to build a sustainable future for the college.  I developed the new Green Devil Certification program (read more about it on my portfolio page) with the goal to engage and inspire Dickisonians to build a more sustainable community.  Additionally, during my time at Dickinson, I have been actively involved with Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed service fraternity.  APO gave me the opportunity to work with campus and Carlisle organizations and contribute to the social sustainability of both communities.  APO was a wonderful chance to give back to the communities that gave so much to me.  The organizations we volunteered with all had one similar goal: build a better tomorrow.  That message, I believe, is at the core of sustainability.  In my academic life, too, I have tried to bring sustainability into each course.  As an English and Political Science major, I feel that I am able to bring a unique perspective to sustainability issues, whether environmental or social.  Especially in my final year, I have focused academically on the role of nature in our literature and discourse and what it reveals about society (read more on my portfolio page).  In my academic life, I have tried to build a broader understanding of sustainability and social justice by bringing them together.  Finally, in my everyday life, I try to be a leader in sustainability.  My involvement on the college’s Ultimate Frisbee team perhaps best exemplifies my goal to build a better community.  I advocate for sustainability among my friends, encouraging simple behaviors such as as using reusable water bottles, eliminating food waste, and turning off lights.  Additionally, I always try to be a positive and outspoken example of social consciousness, pointing out gender, race, or sexuality inequalities and advocating for a peaceful, cooperative, and wholly inclusive community.  Luckily, my teammates are not a particularly “unsustainable” group, but it was still my mission every day to build a better environment for new groups of future teammates. 

 

            When we as Baird Fellows consider the responsibilities we have as sustainability ambassadors, everything we do takes on a greater meaning.  Academically, we can study sustainability through several lenses, whether that is through a gender, race, or sexuality lens, or through a chemistry or geography lens.  In our careers, each and every job carries an implication for the future.  Having these sensibilities gives meaning to any job or task.  Whether you work in a court room or a laboratory, no matter what you study, each contribution to sustainability is equally important.  What matters is that each of us carries sustainability goals with us everywhere we go.  Each day, each conversation, each activity is an opportunity to contribute to the sustainability of tomorrow.  It is my goal to not miss out on these opportunities.