Teaching Sustainability in the Anthropocene Era

Abstract

In our roles as teachers in environmental studies programs at liberal arts colleges, we have mentored many young people whose abiding concern for the environment and for social justice drives a deep desire to live in a manner that lives up to the ideals of the newfound “sustainability” movement. Indeed, we share these values ourselves, doing our best to do our parts as good citizens who think globally and act locally. Still, we know all too well that one individual’s decision to drive a hybrid, eat low on the food chain, or recycle a beverage container is like one drop of water in the sea of forces that are pushing our world in the direction of a socially unjust, environmentally unsustainable future.