At a minimum, this implies that being “green” isn’t really all that easy. But, what choice do we have? We have but one planetary home. So, we must recognize that while the obstacles are great, we must continually strive towards a goal of sustainability.

Thanks to the diligence of several faculty, staff and students, some changes are currently underway. We now have the vestiges of a recycling program on campus. Food services have begun to use “eco-friendly” utensils and containers. Our physical plant has adopted a number of energy efficient practices. These, and other changes are important first steps.

But, it is important to recognize that these practices alone will not make us “green.” More changes and more substantive changes are needed if we really wish to tout ourselves as a “green” campus.

In particular, we will have to significantly reduce our energy use in our campus buildings and in our transportation activities if we hope to become carbon “neutral” and help stabilize the climate.

And, what about our food and water supply? Should we require that all the food and beverages on campus be obtained using sustainable fisheries and agricultural practices, such as organic farms that do not rely on fossil fuels and synthetic fertilizers?

Even such things as landscaping need to be addressed. Perhaps we should consider landscaping with native plants rather than exotics to reduce water, fertilizer and pesticide use, and enhance our campus “biodiversity.”

Clearly, we must address these and many other aspects of our activities on campus if we desire to really live and work in a sustainable manner. To be sure, some of these changes would require modifications in our physical infrastructure and investments in new technologies. However, these investments could well pay for themselves over the long term. Most importantly, these changes will not occur without the commitment and dedication of administrators, faculty, staff and students.

We must also recognize that, while we may be able to achieve some degree of sustainability at the local scale, we may do little to achieve sustainability at larger scales.

In this age of global environmental change it is sustainability at the global scale that is the ultimate goal if we wish to maintain our very life support systems for our children, our grandchildren and ourselves.

To address these global environmental problems we must acknowledge that the root cause of these problems is the combined impact of our population size and the magnitude of our consumption of the earth’s resources and services. Achieving true sustainability therefore requires that we address population growth and consumptive lifestyles.

Major and perhaps even fundamental changes will be required in the ways and manners that we obtain our energy, food, water, fiber and shelter, and how we live our lives, and these changes need to be implemented quickly.

Finally we must incorporate the principles of sustainability into our campus programs and events. What better place than a Jesuit institution like Loyola to develop curricula and sponsor events and speakers that address topics such as materialism, reproductive behavior, economic development and environmental change in an interdisciplinary, integrated context so that we can develop solutions to our environmental problems that are scientifically sound while also ethically and socially responsible?

Obviously, these are not trivial endeavors but they underscore the significant challenges we face if we truly want to be “green” and live in a sustainable manner.

Paul W. Barnes is a professor in the biology department, the chairman of environmental studies and holds the J.H. Mullahy S.J. endowed chair in environmental studies. He can be reached at [email protected]. This is part two of a two-part column.