Sustainability, what does that mean?
My understanding of sustainability is seeing humans and our decisions as part of ecology, because we are shaped by it and capable of shaping it.1 In our present polarized society, the word sustainability seems to instil the idea of forfeiting a lifestyle or sacrificing comfort. It is associated with being a greenwashing buzzword and left-wing ideologies, but this alienates what the word was truly meant to mean – to live a life that can be sustained without heavy environmental costs.
So, by making changes to our daily lives and habits, we can create positive feedback for the environment. We spend 8 out of 12 months interacting with our campus. This provides us with a brilliant opportunity to bring in changes that are small but effective.
ATU Sligo is known as a forward thinking and modern campus, we have ushered in many changes such as 2go cups, ending single use cups in our cafeteria. We are also an important entity in the Irish academic landscape for science, engineering and research. This shows that we have the knowledge base right here with us to move forward with better sustainability concepts and improvements, so that we may be a leader to other universities in what is capable in terms of sustainability on campus.
I believe that sustainability can be at the core of our decision making, ensuring long term prosperity of our college and students.