The first time I remember the concept of sustainability was in junior high school, when there was an English article about avoiding the use of plastics as much as possible, because traditional plastics are not biodegradable. At that time, my school focused on teaching to the test, and they didn’t care if students really understood what “sustainability” was, they only cared about whether students could memorize a whole English article and write down a word without spelling it wrong. We don’t think on our own, we don’t work on our own projects, and we have to follow what the textbook tells us. I have also tried to ask what “sustainability” is. But the answer I got was always “you don’t need to know what it is now, you just need to know how to spell sustainable”.
The second time I learned the word “sustainable” was when I was already in college. However, my lack of critical thinking, independent thinking, and even self-study over the years has made me not stand out among many Native American students, but I am still happy to have had the opportunity to continue my studies. In my opinion, simply put, sustainability is about making our planet function in a healthy way for a longer period of time, so there are many aspects involved. Examples include plastic pollution, species extinction, and extreme changes in climate. As Julia B. Corbett explains in “The Formation of Environmental Beliefs,” our environmental beliefs are shaped by a complex combination of personal and social influences. These beliefs determine how we perceive and interact with the natural world and influence our actions toward it. She argues that the way a person relates to the environment when they are still a child largely determines their attitude towards the environment later in life, but that this attitude evolves over time through personal experiences and social influences. Therefore a proper guidance is very important.
I think I have a strong sense of environmental protection, but I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching over the past few months while working on the project, and I don’t think I’ve done a very good job in this aspect of sustainable development. In other words, I don’t know how to do it. For example, when I buy furniture I don’t research what the item is made of. Another example is that exhaust fumes from gasoline vehicles are bad for the environment, but when I drive my own car I don’t care if it emits more exhaust fumes. It’s kind of sad I think, but I’m sure from now on I’ll grow to be conscious of whether something is environmentally sustainable or not.