Part One: Environmental Principles

Mission

In its mission statement, St. Olaf College claims that it "provides an education committed to the liberal arts, rooted in the Christian Gospel, and incorporating a global perspective. In the conviction that life is more than a livelihood, it focuses on what is ultimately worthwhile and fosters the development of the whole person in mind, body, and spirit. . . . . Through its curriculum, campus life, and off-campus programs, it stimulates students' critical thinking and heightens their moral sensitivity; it encourages them to be seekers of truth, leading lives of unselfish service to others; and it challenges them to be responsible and knowledgeable citizens of the world."

In the 21 st century, the liberal arts, the Christian Gospel and a global perspective all require that students consider their lives in the context of other lives and life-supporting natural systems. An educated person isn't just someone with a lot of knowledge in her head; it's someone who understands relationships-social, intellectual, institutional and environmental. And it's someone who tries to create and maintain good relationships in culture and in nature. As Aldo Leopold said, describing a land ethic, " A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

As seekers of truth and critical thinkers planning to be responsible citizens of the world and its biosphere, students and other members of the college community (faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, and associates) need to know how the world works, and how our work at the college complements what Thomas Berry calls the "Great Work" of the universe. We also need examples of responsible action in the world. St. Olaf College can offer such an example, as the college community works to sustain and enrich the many communities-cultural and natural-we encounter every day.

What is sustainability?

In many American children's stories (and other stories too), the characters live "happily ever after." Sustainability is the art of "ever after," the art of assuring that people in the future will have what they need to lead fulfilling lives. In 1987, the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (chaired by Norway 's Gro Harlem Brundtland) defined sustainable development as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It's a way of assuring that that our pursuit of happiness doesn't compromise the pursuit of happiness of future generations.

St. Olaf's current ecological footprint is not sustainable. We're spending the earth's natural capital without sufficiently replenishing it. We intend to begin the work of living more creatively and regeneratively in our place.¹

Some principles

We've assembled a set of principles to guide us in the journey toward sustainability. Some of these principles relate primarily to new ways of thinking. Others relate primarily to new ways of acting. Obviously, they're interrelated. We're hoping for thoughtful action.

¹Ecological footprint is a measure of the amount of renewable and non-renewable ecologically productive land area required to support the resource demands and absorb the wastes of a given population or specific activities. For an introduction to the idea of ecological footprint, see William Rees and Morris Wackernagel, Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth (Philadelphia: New Society, 1996). For an application of footprint analysis to colleges, see Jason Venetoulis, "Assessing the Ecological Impact of a University," International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 2 (2001): 180-196.