Director of Sustainability Weston Dripps discusses the relationship between sustainability and environmental, racial, and socio-economic injustices鈥攁nd the need to approach these issues from a systems perspective.
Achieving sustainability is perhaps the defining idea of our era. The consequences of not achieving sustainability are certainly catastrophic as humanity faces a series of complex, interconnected sustainability challenges (e.g., climate change, racial and socioeconomic inequities, resource depletion and degradation, biodiversity loss, growing population). The problems are global in scale, long-term in scope, plagued by uncertainty, and in many cases politically contentious. The urgency to act grows with each moment if we are to set ourselves on a sustainable path forward.
Colleges like Amherst have a major role to play when it comes to leveraging their research, education, operations, and engagement to help effectively address and seek solutions for these major sustainability challenges. At 电车无码, sustainability isn鈥檛 a buzzword. It鈥檚 a part of our identity, our core values, and our envisioned future!
Sustainability helps guide all of 电车无码鈥檚 operations鈥攆rom the food served to the vehicles driven. While our institution has made great strides, we recognize we can and should do better.
First launched in 2014 and originally situated in the facilities division, the Office of Sustainability was re-envisioned and re-launched in 2022. We now reside in academic affairs and focus on integrating sustainability into every aspect of the 电车无码 system!