Sustainable Living (B.S.)

The national food production and distribution system is unsustainable — there is no choice but to change. The question is: Can the current system change enough to become truly sustainable, or must an entirely new system replace it?

Explore a wide range of new approaches, from the edge of “conventional” sustainable agriculture to organics and beyond (since some organic methods aren’t much better than conventional). Based on principles of permaculture, truly sustainable agriculture mimics natural ecosystems in every way — using no fertilizers, synthetic, or organic chemicals.

Energy is central to sustainability. Study the technologies that generate energy from renewable, sustainable sources — including solar, wind, and biomass — and redefine your understanding of energy, heat, and power.

• Examine the provisioning, transportation, and production of renewable energy
• Learn to identify waste in a system and find opportunities for improvement through energy modeling and monitoring, using software for “what if” analyses
• Explore issues about the social acceptability, environmental impact and risk, and economic viability of hydroelectric energy, wind power, solar, geothermal, and nuclear energy

Explore sustainability, patterns of human settlement, eco-cities, buildings, and the transportation systems that connect them. Cities are the biggest things people make — buildings use over 50% of total energy and 75% of the electricity consumed by humans. Thus, designing our “built environment” for efficiency, regeneration, and renewal is critical to sustainability.

Learn how whole systems design and permaculture principles can be used to create:

• self-sufficient buildings that produce energy, purify wastes, and harvest rainwater — ultimately giving back more than they take from the environment
• eco-cities that grow their own food, provide their own water and energy, don't require occupants to own a car, and are delightful places to live

Examine how settlement patterns affect social connections, access to work, recreation and entertainment, and concepts of beauty and aesthetics. Get hands-on experience building with local materials like straw bale, earth block, and natural clay plasters. Plus, learn how to go beyond green and optimize living conditions through healthy building practices.

Policy has a powerful ability to influence behavior in critical areas: food and water security, population and climate stabilization, eradication of poverty, preservation of natural resources, and biodiversity. Learn how governments and large organizations can use their resources to create a more sustainable world. Humanity has the solutions — we just need the policy to get organized!

Do you wonder how a world with so many problems can ever become sustainable? Have you struggled to express your desire for change in meaningful, relevant terms that motivate people to take action? In this paradigm-breaking track, you’ll:

• analyze and critique a range of social, environmental, and economic sustainability concepts
• form a framework for sustainable decision-making and implementation
• examine and articulate different worldviews, theories, and perspectives on sustainability