ILO Sustainability is the capacity of the earth’s

natural systems and human cultural systems to

survive, flourish, and adapt to changing
At the end of this lesson, the students will be environmental conditions into the very long-
able to: term future. 
1. Since the mid-1980s, there has been a boom in
1. Identify the environmental environmental awareness on college
problems, their causes and  campuses and in public and private schools
sustainability around the world. In the United States,
2. Distinguish among environmental hundreds of colleges and universities have now
science, ecology, and environmentalism taken the lead in a quest to become more
3. Explain ecological footprints and sustainable and to educate their students about
how it affects the planet earth sustainability.

Case Study For example, at Oberlin College in Ohio, a

group of students worked with faculty members
and architects to design a more sustainable
College students around the United States who
environmental studies building (Figure 1.1)
are working to address many of the serious
powered by solar panels, which produce 30%
environmental problems we face and to
more electricity than the building uses. Closed-
improve environmental quality on their
loop underground geothermal wells provide
campuses. Thousands of students on
heating and cooling. In its solar greenhouse, a
campuses all over the world are doing the
series of open tanks populated by plants and
same. Many of these students are learning that
other organisms purifies the building’s
a key to most solutions is to apply the three
wastewater. The building collects rainwater for
scientific principles of sustainability and the
irrigating the surrounding grasses, gardens,
three social science principles of sustainability
and meadow, which contain a diversity of plant
to the design of our economic and social
and animal species. 
systems, and to our individual lifestyles. We
can use such strategies to try to slow the Berea College in Kentucky boasts an
rapidly expanding losses of biodiversity, to innovative environmental science curriculum
sharply reduce our production of wastes and including a Sustainable Appalachian
pollution, to switch to more sustainable sources Communities course. The school also features
of energy, and to promote more sustainable its Ecovillage, a 50-unit experimental residence
forms of agriculture and other uses of land and complex that uses passive solar heating, solar
water. We can also use these principles to panels, and filtered rainwater.
sharply reduce poverty and slow human
population growth. At the University of California, Santa Cruz, in
2012, students reused, recycled, or composted
You and all of your fellow students have the more than 70% of their solid waste with a goal
good fortune to be members of the 21st of reaching 100% by 2020. And in Ashville,
century’s transition generation that will play a North Carolina, Warren Wilson College gets
major role in deciding whether humanity more than a third of its food from regional
creates a more sustainable future or continues farms, including its own large on-campus
on a path toward further environmental organic garden.
degradation and disruption. This means
confronting the urgent challenges presented by In addition to making campuses greener,
the major environmental problems discussed. It colleges are increasingly offering
is an incredibly exciting and challenging time to environmental sustainability courses and
be alive as we struggle to develop a more programs. At Pfeiffer University, many students
sustainable relationship with this planet that is have accompanied Professor Luke Dollar, a
our only home. National Geographic Emerging Explorer, on
trips to Madagascar to take part in his research Concept 1.5 We can live more sustainably by
on that country’s endangered species and relying more on solar energy, preserving
ecosystems. At the University of Wisconsin– biodiversity, and not disrupting the earth’s
Madison, the Nelson Institute for Environmental natural chemical recycling processes.
Studies seeks to integrate sustainability
content throughout the academic departments, Case Study
as well as to serve communities outside of the Tropical Rain Forests Are Disappearing
university.
Tropical rain forests are found near the earth’s
These and many other institutions are equator and contain an incredible variety of life.
educating students who will provide leadership These lush forests are warm year round and
in helping us to make our societies and have high humidity and heavy rainfall almost
economies more sustainable during the next daily. Although they cover only about 2% of the
few decades. Maybe you will join the ranks of earth’s land surface, studies indicate that they
such environmental leaders. contain up to half of the world’s known
 Key Questions and Concepts terrestrial plant and animal species. For these
reasons, they make an excellent natural
1.1 What are the three principles of laboratory for the study of ecosystems—
sustainability communities of organisms interacting with one
another and with the physical environment of
Concept 1.1 A - Nature has sustained itself for matter and energy in which they live.
billions of years by relying on solar energy,
biodiversity, and nutrient cycling. So far, at least half of these forests have been
destroyed or disturbed by humans cutting down
Concept 1.1 B - Our lives and economies trees, growing crops, grazing cattle, and
depend on energy from the sun and on natural building settlements (Figure 2.1), and the
resource and natural service (natural capital) degradation of these centers of biodiversity is
provided by the earth. increasing. Ecologists warn that without strong
1.2 How are our ecological footprints affecting protective measures, most of these forests will
the earth? probably be gone or severely degraded by the
end of this century.
Concept 1.2 As our ecological footprints grow,
we are depleting and degrading more of the So why should we care that tropical rain forests
earth's natural capital. are disappearing? Scientists give three
reasons. First, clearing these forests will
1.3 What is pollution, and what can we do reduce the earth’s vital biodiversity by
about it? destroying or degrading the habitats of many of
the unique plant and animal species that live in
Concept 1.3 - Preventing pollution is more them, which could lead to the early extinction of
effective and less costly than cleaning up these species and other species that depend
pollution. on them.
Second, the destruction of these forests is
1.4 Why do we have environmental problems? helping to accelerate atmospheric warming,
and thus projected climate change. The reason
Concept 1.4 - Major causes of environmental is that eliminating large areas of trees faster
problems are population growth, poverty, than they can grow back decreases the forests’
affluence based on wasteful and unsustainable ability to remove from the atmosphere the
resource use, and exclusion of harmful human-generated emissions of carbon dioxide
environmental costs from the market prices of (CO2), a gas that contributes to atmospheric
goods and services. warming and projected climate change.
1.5 How can we live more sustainably?
Third, large-scale rain forest losses can change organisms at each succeeding feeding level
regional weather patterns in ways that can decreases.
prevent the return of diverse tropical rain
forests in cleared or severely degraded areas. 2.4 What happens to matter in an ecosystem?
When this irreversible ecological tipping point is Concept 2.4 - Matter, in the form of nutrients,
reached, tropical rain forests in such areas cycles within and among ecosystems and the
become much less diverse tropical grasslands. biosphere, and human activities are altering
these chemical cycles.
Agronomist and National Geographic Explorer
Vitor O. Becker has studied tropical forests in 2.5 How do scientists study ecosystems?
Latin America for decades. Like many
ecologists, he studies ecosystems to learn how Concept 2.5 - Scientists use field research,
their varieties of organisms interact with their laboratory research, and mathematical and
living (biotic) environment of other organisms other models to learn about ecosystems.
and with their nonliving (abiotic) environment of  
soil, water, other forms of matter, and energy,
mostly from the sun. In effect, ecologists study  
connections in nature. In this lesson, we look
more closely at how tropical rain forests and
other ecosystems work, how human activities  
are affecting them, and how we can try to
preserve them.

Summary
2.1 What keeps us and other organisms alive?
Concept 2.1 A - The four major components of
the earth’s life-support system are the
atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere (water), the
geosphere (rock, soil, sediment), and the
biosphere (living things).
Concept 2.1 B - Life is sustained by the flow of
energy from the sun through the biosphere, the
cycling of nutrients within the biosphere, and
gravity.
2.2 What are the major components of an
ecosystem?
Concept 2.2 - Some organisms produce the
nutrients they need, others get the nutrients
they need by consuming other organisms, and
some recycle nutrients back to producers by
decomposing the wastes and remains of
organisms.
2.3 What happens to energy in an ecosystem?
Concept 2.3 - As energy flows through
ecosystems in food chains and webs, the
amount of chemical energy available to