Sustainability Night: Conscious Action rather than Bleak Thought

     On Tuesday, May 22nd I had the opportunity to attend a Sustainability Night at Poly. In my experience, sustainability is often treated as a catch-all term that encompasses almost all environmental efforts. At the event, however, all of the panelists spoke openly and freely about both the global ideas behind sustainability and the small-scale lifestyle choices that can be implemented to combat climate change and live healthier lifestyles for both the planet and ourselves.

     The Sustainability Night was organized by 2017-2018 Global Scholars Anna Hackel and Joe Masters, and it showcased the beauty of months of hard work and organization coming to fruition. For the event, they organized a panel discussion, filmed a series of interviews on sustainability with high school students from the Pasadena community, and presented a case study on the benefits of installing energy-efficient thermostats at Poly and John Muir High School. As someone who seldom, if ever, considers augmenting the thermostat to save energy and be more sustainable, I thought that the implementation of the Nest thermostats was an impactful and conscious step towards tackling a goal that can often seem impossibly large or widespread.

     The suggestion of concrete actions to be more sustainable also continued throughout the panel, where two Poly freshmen leaders on the Sustainability Council explained lifestyle decisions such as biking to school, composting, and avoiding paper cups within the context of climate change. I will readily admit that I am not the most sustainable person. I drink out of paper cups, I use single-use plastics, I don't compost, and I drive to school, all without thinking about the consequences on the greater environment.

     At the panel, some of the panelists discussed the bleak realities of our time, where the destruction of land masses by climate change in the next 100 years is inevitable. Afterward, however, many rebuked these grim statements by stressing the importance of taking personal and individualized steps to combat climate change. I think that this shift from overarching discussion to concrete action resonated with me immensely. Normally, when I hear that New York could be underwater by 2100, my response is, "We're screwed!" Beyond that, however, it is hard to picture the devastation that climate change can bring, as it is almost impossible to comprehend that New York could disappear. I believe that this difficulty in understanding the scope of climate change leads many to fail to understand climate change and fail to change, as they simply don't know where to start or what to do to prevent New York from being underwater in 100 years. When presented with concrete steps, however, it is borderline impossible to avoid being more sustainable. I think that steps such as composting and implementing energy-efficient thermostats to eliminate waste where we can proved extremely valuable, as they transformed people from tuning out about climate change to taking action.