Why do you do what you do?  If you are reading this blog, you are probably part of an elite team of people that are working very hard to bring ideas and practices of sustainability to your entire campus ethos.  Depending on your setting, you maybethe team.  In either case, have you considered lately how you might actually enjoy the world around you that you are working to protect and what consequences such enjoyment might have for your efforts? A few years ago my wife and I discovered the LFUCG/University of Kentucky

Arboretum. 

It is a 100 acre state botanical garden that exemplifies many of the things we would all like to do on our campuses.  It is jointly operated by the University of Kentucky and the  LFUCG.  Usually beginning in the spring we begin regular visits to the Arboretum for a brisk walk on the 2 mile “walk across Kentucky” that identifies the ecological and geological features of the Bluegrass state.  For the last 6 weeks or so I've been ending at least 5-6 days of my week there, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of one of Lexington's most beautiful pieces of real-estate.  It is a great place to take note of the careful planning that has gone into protecting what has always been there and enjoying the intentional efforts to promote the growth of and educate the public about the importance of native species.

For me, these experiences function in a couple of ways.  First there is the obvious stress relief and “escape” that comes from being in a setting like this away from phones, email and other technological and non-technological life distractions.  Secondly, experiences of places like this should help us think about our surroundings in new ways and envision new ways of understanding how our campuses should behave in terms of their relationship with the biosphere, specifically how landscape design should complement bio-diversity and sustainable landscape principles.  Places like the arboretum give us the opportunity to think seriously about our surroundings in new ways and how social patterns and ecological realities should be connected. 

Perhaps we could adapt Gandhi's idea that we must be the change we hope to create by saying for us to re-create our campus environments in ways that are ecologically appropriate, we must experience the ways in which that change can be made.  That change can only be made when we learn to experience places deeply and drink in all they have to offer. I'm not suggesting that we retreat into these experiences to ignore the harsh realities of some of the places we have to live on our college and university campuses.  I'm rather suggesting that if we are to creatively and practically address issues such as biodiversity and redesigning our landscapes with the use of native species, it will be helpful to experience these things first hand in deep and real ways.  So find some place to enjoy on foot or on a bike, realizing that those times of relaxation can be quite valuable in influencing your creative thinking about sustainability on your campus.