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Little decisions, big impacts
For my anchor course, I had the opportunity to take Fundamentals of Sustainable Development (FANR 1500) with Dr. Puneet Dwivedi during the fall semester of 2018. I’m extremely glad I chose this as my anchor course, because it provided me with a strong foundation of knowledge regarding sustainability that I can use moving forward to be more analytical, critical and innovative when looking into various complex problems of the world.
In other words, through lectures, debates, field trips, oral presentations and research studies, this course allowed me to fully understand the three main spheres of sustainability- economic, social and environmental- while also allowing me to apply the consideration of these three main spheres to the processes and systems that exist within communities, organizations, etc.
Some examples of what we learned about include the environmental costs of using fossil fuels for energy, the various methods and mechanisms that encourage the use of renewable resources, how systems involve aspects like feedback loops and resilience, the importance of forests and carbon sinks and the effects of deforestation, urban gardens and green buildings, watersheds and the Oconee River, etc. The list could go on and on, because we truly did cover a very broad array of topics related to sustainability. Moreover, Dr. Dwivedi also always incorporated the idea of community and future generations into each topic, which helped me understand how everything is connected in one way or another, and in order to practice sustainability, careful consideration of potential interconnections and implications is essential.
One specific example that sticks out to me regarding this is when a guest speaker, who was the director of sustainability for the Coca-Cola Company, gave a presentation to the class about his work. He’s actually responsible for the design of the Dasani water bottle (Dasani water was created by the Coca-Cola Company). He explained how the company wanted the Dasani water bottle to be a dark blue color, but he looked ahead and realized that blue plastic can’t be recycled because it’s impossible to separate the blue dye from the plastic (thus making it difficult to use in recycled products that aren’t meant to be blue). He convinced the company to change the bottle color to clear plastic, and now the millions of Dasani water bottles that are sold today are able to be recycled rather than thrown in the trash or in recycling bins that would then be unwanted.
It amazes me that a decision as simple as changing the color of a water bottle can make such a significant difference for the environment (which pertains to the environmental aspect of sustainability) while also allowing the Coca-Cola Company to still make a huge profit (pertains to the economic aspect) and maintain a solid brand that people around the world recognize and use daily (pertains to the social aspect). Thus, all three spheres of sustainability aligned in his decision, and his decision was made because he took the time to consider the many potential implications of the new product. That is the practice of sustainability at its core.
Another specific example from this class was when we went on a tour through East Campus, near the Lamar Dodd School of Art and the Hugh Hodges School of Music. Here, Dr. Dwivedi showed us how specific and thoughtful architectural decisions had been made by landscape architects regarding the design of the area. Certain pathways have grooves mixed with soil to capture water runoff and prevent flooding and erosion, certain bushes and shrubs are planted around various medians to prevent flooding into other walkways, many of the walkways are sloped in a certain way to ensure water drains into storm drains, etc.
It was very interesting to see how much planning goes into a relatively small space, and how that planning can make such a significant difference. In this case, the way the area is designed helps prevent flooding and erosion (pertains to the environmental aspect of sustainability), many of the materials are cost-effective, such as the bushes and shrubs, and the prevention of flooding and erosion means less costly renovation and upkeep in the future (pertains to the economic aspect), and the area is beautiful, pleasing to the eye and very accessible for any students or faculty walking through the UGA campus (pertains to the social aspect). Once again, simple, thoughtful decisions resulted in something sustainable for years to come.
With all this being said, this class gave me the inspiration to think much more deeply about ideas, products, systems, government policies, and many other things and try to connect them with seemingly unrelated things or with the future. Will it be cost-effective in the long term? Will it harm any outside parties now or in the future? Is there a better way for it to be? These are the questions I’ve vowed to ask about any project I encounter in my life, because I want my work to be intentional and well considered. That’s what ultimately builds a more efficient, inclusive and progressive world- when actions are looked at in the context of a much larger picture.
ARTIFACTS
We learned many practical skills in this class, as well, such as how to use Excel. When we had to conduct our own research for this class- which involved posing a novel research question and then collecting raw data and analyzing it in some way, then documenting the results in a research paper- I had the opportunity to use Excel for a practical reason. Here’s a link to my research paper:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U4M092zS32K8tyzl4Vu9Rrfj-AtrnuCXYlv24UrWQgE/edit?usp=sharing
We also researched many different case studies throughout this class, but for one particular case study assignment, I had to give an oral presentation about a new, innovative alternative energy product. Here’s the link to the PowerPoint I created: