Drafted by Jacob Cabrera
For an Environmental Studies Senior Thesis
Everything in this document is Public Domain.
Any portion or this text or in its entirety, may be duplicated or copied.

Table of Contents

Section I: Content Overview..................................................................................... 4

Executive Summary............................................................................................................................................ 4

Logistical Organization and Structure of Paper................................................................................................ 5

Introduction...................................................................................................................................................... 6

Section II: Case Studies in the Progression of Sustainable Living.......................... 7

Organizations of a Collective Movement........................................................................................................... 7

Sustaining Personal Involvement in the Movement............................................................................................ 9

Sustainable Living in the Education System..................................................................................................... 10

Academia & the Movement’s Vision................................................................................................................... 12

Section III: The Development of Conscious Systemic Change................................. 13

Introduction to Conscious Shifting.................................................................................................................. 13

Principles of Sustainable Living........................................................................................................................ 14

Concepts of Sustainable Living......................................................................................................................... 16

Section IV: Beyond Sustainable Living.................................................................... 19

Section V: Supplemental Information.................................................................... 20

Glossary........................................................................................................................................................... 20

List of Appendices.............................................................................................................................................. 25

Section I: Content Overview

Executive Summary

Presentation Sum-up

Through the application of Sustainable Living, the union between the realms of sustainability and life, we can change the way in which we understand the world individually and create an action-oriented approach to improve our society. By bringing Sustainable Living into the classroom, we are able to increase the activity, involvement and engagement of students in every aspect of their own education. When engaging students in a coordinated effort to improve the community, they become immersed in experiential learning. Core ideas have developed from a unique cultural evolution involving a collective movement. The foundation of Sustainable Living can be condensed into a few principles and concepts, which can be practiced through our daily lives and used for decision-making. They can help us understand the importance of balancing our thoughts, emotions, and actions that affect the world. Sustainable Living and the concept of sustainability allow us to explore beyond the confines of our educational experience and into any aspect of our life experience as well.

Basic Conclusions

The only way to change the course of our society is by changing what has led it astray in the first place: our education methodology. Sustainable Living provides an opportunity to shift our education, and as the union of sustainability and life, it becomes the study of sustaining life. The foundational principles are: balance, spectrums, intention, hope, trust, and time. The foundational concepts give tangible steps of incorporating the principles into ones life. Sustainable Living is only one aspect in a greater understanding of our world. Community itself or community organizing, could separately be looked at in more detail along with many other realms of life. Everyone will find their own actions to incorporate Sustainable Living into their unique experience and take it upon themselves to reorganize their relationship to the world and actively revitalize and energize their surroundings.

Logistical Organization and Structure of Paper

General Overview

This paper should be organized and approachable to allow access to any perspective or particular topic of the entire thesis. Each paragraph has a title to allow simple reference to its content. For even more detailed reference into the content of the thesis, a set of outlines and detailed outlines are available, one of which outlines the key words or ideas brought up in every sentence. These outlines will make accessible any detail of the information in the thesis for people who are not going to read its entirety. There is also a glossary with all the key terms and ideas, with relative definitions to the point of view of Sustainable Living, where a little more information is available as a quick reference. The primary version of this thesis is a web site; some aspects may be formatted for the web. Past versions are also available on line.

Interactive Sustainable Paper

Is it possible to bring Sustainable Living to the core of even writing a paper? Your experience in reading this paper should include writing it as well. You are encouraged to interact with this thesis and give comments on any segment or issue as it is always in draft and will be evolving. Input and collective agreement on the information presented is crucial to making this paper successful. Eventually there is the hope of having an interactive ability on the web to actually edit the paper and submit it while you read. Sustainable Living will always be changing. Not only does the writer of the paper need to take individual ownership to enable the freedom to explore, but so should the reader take individual ownership of what they read and bring into their consciousness with the freedom of understanding and expression. It is not good enough just to read for your own benefit, but to enhance the experience for future readers.

Introduction

Sustaining What? Sustaining Life!

When we talk about sustainability often the question comes up: what are we trying to sustain? That question always seems to trouble the people involved in the sustainability movement. By introducing the concept of Sustainable Living as a separate understanding from sustainability, it gives a new context that focuses on a smaller, specific aspect of sustainability. Sustainable Living could be described as the union between the realms of sustainability and life. In other words Sustainable Living is the study of sustaining life.

Changing Ourselves

This paper does not discuss the definition of sustainability, or the many crises of our world. Instead of looking at the problems of the world, this paper will encourage you to change the way in which you look at and perceive the world and your relationship to it. As conscious beings we control how we make goals and how we achieve them. Through the application of Sustainable Living we can change the way in which we understand the world individually and collectively. We can change how we make decisions in order to improve our world and the quality of life for everyone. We can change the way our communities exist and interact.

Understanding the Individual and the Collective

There are two main aspects to sustainability, and therefore to Sustainable Living (and really any realm of life). One aspect is our personal understanding and organization of the world. The other is the multiple, societal, or collective understanding, and organization of the world. Each is equally important, yet the collective understanding of the world is grounded into each individual persons understanding, added to that collective. Therefore it is, and will be increasingly more important to begin and create a new foundation of our collective understanding with the individual as the foundation.

Section II: Case Studies in the Progression of Sustainable Living

Organizations of a Collective Movement

The Beginnings of a Sustainability Movement at UC Santa Cruz

The collective movement for sustainability at UC Santa Cruz was slow coming. For years there were many attempts of students and staff alike in making individual efforts to improve the sustainability of our campus and society. Student groups would come and go, and information would be lost, breaking continuity throughout campus and the community. Then in the summer of 2001, a student named Jessian Choy founded the Student Environmental Center (SEC), based off of the CU Boulder SEC, to bring continuity and a central location to the movement at UC Santa Cruz. This brought about the ability to have multiple organizations and projects all working together to improve the sustainability of the campus. Within three years the momentum has grown exponentially with ripples across the state of California and the nation.

Collective Sustainability Movement Year 1 & 2

The first year the SEC focused on foundation, a Board of Advisors, and getting a ballot measure passed to help fund the efforts. The first Annual Campus Earth Summit was put on along with a successful Campus Earth Festival. The next summer, leaders worked with Greenpeace to start a statewide UC Go Solar campaign, founding the California Student Sustainability Coalition (CSSC). At UC Santa Cruz, the SEC founded three campaigns, the UCSC SEC CSSC chapter of the statewide coalition, Student for Organic Solutions (SOS), and a Waste Prevention campaign. In one year, the students improved knowledge about organic foods, educated about waste prevention, got a $3 per student per quarter ballot measure passed to create the Campus Sustainability Council (CSC) as part of student government, and helped the state wide coalition to successfully lobby the UC Regents to pass a Green Building Policy and Renewable Energy Standard. Also the second Campus Earth Summit was a success, and an even bigger Campus Earth Festival.

Collective Sustainability Movement Year 3

Right after the UC Regents passed the sustainability policy, the California Sustainability Advisory Council (CSAC) was founded as the Advisory Board for the CSSC. The CSSC founded two new statewide campaigns, Move UC, focused on transportation, and the Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP), focused on curriculum. During the year the California State University system joined the CSSC, and the University of California Student Sustainability Coalition (UCSSC) evolved as the UC branch. At UC Santa Cruz the CSC was founded as a funding body within the student government, the UCSC SEC ESLP Chapter was founded, and an eventful Campus Earth Festival was put on. The most successful Campus Earth Summit, which was even attended by the Chancellor and Assemblyman Laird, was fully documented and became the first completed Blueprint for a Sustainable Campus. Lastly, a group was established to found the Chancellors Sustainability Action Council (CSAC) with the purpose of creating Campus Sustainability Plan, and a national group was created, Energy Action.

A Bumpy Ride

The magnitude and momentum created from this exponential growth over the last three years is magical. These are entire organizations listed, not just projects, and each organization has many inter-related projects which are coordinated from a few crucial hubs like the SEC Steering Committee, and the CSSC Statewide Coordinator. As always, when you have this much going on, everything doesn't work out the way you want, and we have found ourselves coming back to many foundational communication and structure decisions, which cannot be overlooked. For everything that goes wrong or falls through the cracks, there seems to be five that go right. Although much is improving with this movement, it is not ok when people sacrifice their own wellbeing only to drop out because of stress. In this time we find ourselves with a massive organizational collective, which should begin to slow down growth and ground itself into the earth and the community, to re-collect and strategize its momentum. The only way to ground the movement is to ground the people within it.

Sustaining Personal Involvement in the Movement

Individual Case Study

As the writer of this paper, I have had a pivotal role in each of the listed organizations, as well as many not listed. I was a founding member within the CSSC, UCSC SEC CSSC chapter, CSAC, ESLP, UCSC SEC ESLP chapter, CSC, was involved in each of the Campus Earth Summits and Festivals, helped draft the beginnings of the Blueprint for a Sustainable Campus and lay foundations for the Campus Sustainability Plan. How was I able to do all this, go to college, be involved in numerous other organizations, and still stay sane? It is true that I wasn't sane to begin with, but either way my involvement completely changed my life and affected my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual being. The more I learn, the more I understand the importance of grounding myself, and slowing down to allow personal growth.

Storing Energy

During the first three years of my college career, before the collective movement began, I spent much of my time grounding myself with YOGA. I had started in high school, and got involved in college with a style called Warrior Yogaä. I also actively pursued my family roots by living in Madrid, Spain with relatives (which is where I first got an email about the founding of the SEC). Going to YOGA three times a week for three years along with meditation, hikes, and eating as healthy as I could, seemed to increase the energy within my body and my ability to tap into the energy of the earth and universe. As I got more involved with the movement, I started teaching Warrior Yogaä, and still do, but I was unable to go to YOGA class three times a week like I had before. I could feel myself becoming less connected and grounded, and losing energy as I was exerting myself too much. Only with the energy I had stored up, and the bit of YOGA that I did to keep continuity, was I able to sustain myself. There is a deep need to realign and balance my life to bring grounding to myself and the movement as a whole.

Sustainable Living in the Education System

Education Evolution

Our society's educational system is at an evolutionary turning point, similar to the paradigm shift of consciousness occurring within our entire society. The way in which we teach our children has already been changing drastically with increased standardized testing. The methods for teaching children will continue to change drastically and by bringing Sustainable Living into the classroom we are able to increase the activity, involvement, and engagement of students into every aspect of their own education.

ESLP

As a case study evolving from the collective movement, the Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP), started in Spring 2004, is a student run, student taught class, lecture series, and seminar simultaneously administered at five UC campuses. The ESLP came out of an idea to have a lecture series with world renowned speakers, and the need for a class to pass along the knowledge gained over the last few years to bring continuity. Merging the two created an amazing class that got five UC campuses to work together to put on a statewide lecture series to more than 500 students across the state.

Feedback on the Lectures

The feedback from students was incredible. Having world famous lectures come every week made the class incredibly exciting and inspirational. Students would say that this was the first class they had every really taken, their best class, their first real class, or that it had changed their life. The material presented actually connects the dots of our society and the world, to give a perspective that could never be understood in a specialized subject matter. One of the facilitators of the class said: “It was the class that I always wanted to take, so I had to teach it”.

Action Research Teams

Many of the campuses contributed to making action research teams, some campuses even had a seminar class with limited enrollment. Action Research Teams work on a project, which is directly viable to bring solutions to the surrounding communities. Students work in groups to research and document where we are now, who’s involved, what are other campuses doing, and how to move forward. By engaging in a coordinated effort to improve the community, students are involved in experiential learning.

The Methodology of the Class

As part of the statewide strategy, we are assessing what made our class special and documenting it as the foundational methodology of a teaching evolution. There are many parts to the methodology that are important, but the key factors understood so far are: experience learning, students teaching and engaging their own education, group learning, student research which is applicable to the community and society, and public service. Having this program be student run and student taught is one of the most crucial principles involved. Only when students are in control of their education in a balanced relationship with their professors, the education on both sides increases. This helps for not only understanding the importance of this class, but also in learning in all other classes. Eventually we can bring this methodology to the forefront of interdisciplinary studies to create an Academic Sustainability Assembly.

Retreats

Twice a year, there are statewide retreats for ESLP where students from across the state have a unique ability to exchange experiences from their separate campuses. This is the only example we know of students collectively coming together from across the UC’s to work and learn from each other. ESLP is the first medium to connect education across the state, with more to come.

Academia & the Movement’s Vision

Getting to The Cause of Our Problems

Some progressive academics believe that the current societal paradigm that we exist in now, defined by huge environmental catastrophe, has not been caused by “stupid” people, but by well educated academic graduates. As academia has the same fundamental roots it did hundreds of years ago, some are now waking up and realizing that the only way to change the course of our society is by changing what has lead it astray in the first place; our education methodology. Professors across the United States & Canada are already working with organizations like Second Nature, Education For Sustainability Western Network, and student coalitions to unite universities everywhere as a multi-billion dollar industry with billions in investments as well.

The Larger Vision

The vision is in sight to have a coalition that stretches beyond the university system, and connects with industry and government programs to expand the ideas and experiments being attempted within campuses to city programs for saving energy, resources, and to improve the quality of life. The leaders in the academia level are professors linked up with professional organizations and high-level politicians within Democratic administrations. John Kerry himself was co-founder of Second Nature and with people like Denis Kucinich tilting the Democratic Party, sustainability can lead the academic shift in higher education. If the American people can sustain a Democratic administration in Washington D.C, we could see massive sustainability and Sustainable Living vision implementation on a international level that has already been laid with the Talloires Declaration, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Agenda 21 UN Sustainable Development programs.

Section III: The Development of Conscious Systemic Change

Introduction to Conscious Shifting

Think Local, Global, and Universal, Act In Balance

Each of us is interdependent with the earth, every living species, natural resources, each other, energy, and the entire universe from the beginning of time. You are, therefore I am. That is the foundation for understanding that we are only a creation of what is around us, and vice versa. It is not enough to say that a tree should not be cut down because that will limit our oxygen, that it looks pretty to us, or that it has a type of animal in it that we like to eat. We must love and want to not cut down the tree simply because it exists in and of itself, with intrinsic value. The principles and concepts of Sustainable Living can help us understand the importance of balancing our thoughts, emotions, and actions that affect the world.

Open Systems and Interdependence

By understanding open systems, holistic thinking, and integrated systems theory the interconnectedness of all things come forward. We need to build structures that increase connections and interactions between all species, cultures, and realms of life. Currently our society has been built and taught to our children as a closed system, with different aspects of our world being understood as separate and fragmented from one another. It is crucial to limit fragmentation and understand the interrelation of all ideas and beings.

Introduction to Principles and Concepts of Sustainable Living

The overlap between the definitions and common vocabulary of principles and concepts is a "basic thought". This means that the concepts and principles of Sustainable Living are the foundation to all basic thoughts and assumptions involved in this paper. Also, it is important to understand how the individual vs. the collective relate to principles, concepts, sustainability and Sustainable Living. The larger understanding and collective consciousness seem to relate more with sustainability and principles. Concepts and Sustainable Living seem to relate more with individual evolution. In order to change the way in which we see our relationship to the world, we need be able to redefine the world around us.

Principles of Sustainable Living

Principle

The primary source or ingredient for moral and ethical laws, assumptions, [or beliefs] used for quality decision-making.
These principles can be understood and evolved into the basic foundation for our conscious thoughts, especially when used to make decisions on any aspect of sustaining life on this planet. It is recomened that they be the main guiding principles for our morals, laws, and beliefs as they pertain to Sustainable Living. These principles can be used on a personal or collective level.

Balance

Everything is balanced, up to the highest levels. Give and take, good and evil. To foster balance, understand that the balance of everything exists internally within. Each of us has good and evil inside. Balance is the fundamental essence of change. No single balance is ever reached. Balance is merely an imaginary oscillation. We cannot hold ourselves strong and steady in a straight line and call it balanced. Only when we release and extend through our problems does balance truly take shape because through our release we are able to sway and morph to what we encounter.

Spectrums

Although you only need two things to create balance, for example good and evil, to live sustainably, you need to understand where you exist in relation to everything around you. Therefore nothing is simply good or evil, black or white; there is always a spectrum of colors. Spectrums put ideas and understanding into a natural order. When two opposites are given, understand that they are only opposite sides of a spectrum with infinite levels in-between. Pay particular attention to what might lie directly in the middle, balanced between the two opposites. There can even be spectrums of spectrums, which lay out the complexity of our world and our simple understanding of it.

Intention

Everything done with intention increases concentration, observation, and attention of our surroundings and actions. Only with intention are we able to enact a plan with a purpose, instead of just going with what is because there isn't enough time to do something else. Take the time to plan, strategize, go slow (not in crisis mode), and take risks when necessary. Do less and refine your work more. Truly believe in what you do, and allow the community too also.

Hope

Hope is the thread that holds our world together. Hope is what keeps people going, persistent, and prevents people from quitting. It is the bond that brings all ability for us to continue living and pass on our knowledge to future generations. Nurture even the slightest figment of hope within yourself or others, as you would a tiny seedling. Hope leads to creating a needed atmosphere of care and comfort.

Trust

In order to find trust, we look inside ourselves and connect to the universe. Satish Kumar walked with a friend from India to London, and then Washington DC. He had no money and no food, just his trust that the universe would guide him well and the world would provide for his needs. If we trust ourselves, and our communities, we will have our needs met and be able to evolve.

Time

Time is like magic; it can be an eternity or a blink of an eye. This kind of Time, which we will give a capitol T, is very different from our concept of time within clocks and schedules. Our society has taught us that time is linear. As the fourth dimension, natural Time, enveloped through a mandela of consciousness and attention within the present moment, defines our three dimensional world. Every action we take, takes affect instantaneously and the ripples all occur in the present moment. All pollution and degradation now, effects us now, not later.

Concepts of Sustainable Living

Concept
An imaginative abstract perception used as a general guide, plan, or method of behavior.
In this context, concepts are tangible steps that people can take to change their behavior and improve the quality of life for themselves and the planet. Each one can be applied as its own action, or as a metaphor to apply in all aspects of one’s life. These are tangible examples of how to put principles of sustainable living into practice. They are meant to be able to bring systemic change within a system.

Collaboration is the Gateway to Change

One of the best ways to make change is to collaborate with the people who have the power to make the change that you would like to see in the world. Even if they aren’t doing what you would want them to do, they might even be doing something you don’t like, treat them as you would treat a friend. Work side by side to improve the world we live in together. Many times the people, who are in control, aren’t the ones who made things the way they are, and they are trying to change things too. To love your enemy, is to love yourself.

Learn Only to Guide

The last reason to learn is for you. Everything you learn has new purpose if the reason you learn it, is to guide others in their path for knowledge. We cannot teach someone, but only guide them to learn themselves what is in front of them. Sometimes we learn something we don’t necessarily want to teach people, but only when we pass the knowledge that it is not worth learning (or only learn it for a specific reason) do we complete the natural path and cycle of education to sustain our children and the planet. Our education system tells us that education is a linear progression to a degree, many people never even use the information that they learn in college. Every time you learn something, imagine ways of passing that knowledge on and whom you may pass it on to.

A Landfill is a Recycling & Composting Center Waiting to be Organized

“Trash” or “Garbage” does not exist in and of itself. They are metaphors for a place in our minds where things go and never come back. Unfortunately landfill itself exists, and we have a lot of it. We no longer can afford to have landfills if we are to sustain life on this planet. A linear model where natural resources are used to create products and then dumped into a landfill to be encapsulated is an understanding of the past. There is a process for taking natural resources and turning them into products, therefore we will have to begin to process our waste products back into resources for the natural environment. For now, divert as much as you can from the landfill and learn how to compost. Have fun with what you don’t need; organize and categorize as you’d like, and don’t worry if it ends up in the landfill anyways. When you do put something in the landfill, visualize digging through the landfill to find it and sort it out, hopefully pre-organized, and support a minor tax for city composting and research on processing waste products back into resources for the natural environment.

Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Health & Safety

To keep you physically healthy and safe is not enough. It is recommended that one develop a conscious understanding of their own mind through watching their thoughts, and meditating. Use feeling words, and describe observations instead of giving perceptions of other people to reduce conflict and create mental safety for the people around you. Creating spiritual health and safety is slightly more complex. Grounding yourself is one of the most important things to do to energize your spirit. Find places on the earth where you feel your spirit comes alive, and stay there for extended periods of time. Nurture these feelings and bring them with you wherever you go. Even try to replicate spaces where we can feel spiritually safe. Many people make their own homes and gardens sacred spaces by decorating them, blessing them, and cleaning. Make a little temple of your own.

Release to Relax, Forgive to Be Happy

Releasing blocked or stagnant energy is one of the most important things you can do, especially when it is a grudge or a negative feeling you have towards a place, person, or group of people. Forgiving is a magical art form used to uplift the soul and bring you back into the present moment. We are not the ones who have destroyed the earth or created the problems that exist in our society today. We can forgive those that have come before us, and move forward by accepting the responsibility to bring solutions. Walking long distances and cleaning are forms of meditation that can help you relax, grow spiritually and connect with the world around you. If you feel uneasy, find the time to sit under a tree and learn about yourself. Take deep relaxing breaths, exhaling through your mouth.

Grounding Yourself in the Garden, You Are What YOU Eat

Gardening is one of the best ways to ground yourself into the earth. Getting your hands dirty with soil is therapeutic to the touch. You also learn a lot about how your food ends up on your plate. One of the most important things you can do is cook a good meal at least a few times a week if not everyday. A diet just becomes a part of your life as you strive for good nutrition. Don’t be afraid of meat eaters, vegans, or even people who only eat raw foods. Try it sometimes, go on a fast too, have fun with your diet and cleanse yourself it feels great. Drink lots of water and remember to water your plants, they are living creatures too.

Look Inward to Find Common Sense

In the end, all of these ideas and these words of advice are just recommendations. Everyone will find their own actions to incorporate Sustainable Living into their unique experience. Only your own intuition can guide you in practice. When something just doesn’t feel right, use your common sense, or the common connection we all have to a greater knowledge of our world. Nurture these connections and memorize those feelings. Allow them to guide your actions.

Section IV: Beyond Sustainable Living

Why Sustainable Living Isn't Enough

It is obvious that a common reoccurrence in creating a sustainable life style, especially for a collective society, is a deep need for evolved community. Building community is a larger concept and understanding than individual growth and education, as is the primary focus of Sustainable Living. Having the collective work together, and not just within an educational experience, adds complexity. Beyond just community there are also bigger questions to answer regarding life and the need to not sustain and instead sacrifice for the betterment of life on a whole, which itself includes death.

Beyond Sustainable to Thriving Life

It is not enough to just sustain the present state of the world. We have to work to make our society actually enhance the environment, quality of life and the economy simultaneously as we live. Even within the sustainability movement and the topic of green buildings, the living building is the most sought. There are many ways to organize and understand the life of our planet, and each of our places within it. Every person has a different way of doing so. What is important within Sustainable Living, is that one takes it upon themself to reorganize their relationship to the world and actively revitalize and energize their surroundings.

Balance of Everything Beyond Life Itself

The solution to sustainability doesn't necessarily have anything to do with sustainability, or Sustainable Living. True solutions to sustainability target the causes of unsustainability, which could be building community and supporting an active government with participatory democracy that supports the earth. Sustainable Living should allow us to question the status quo, and if we agree that balance is one of the fundamental principles, what is the balance of everything? How is the cycle of life balanced by the cycle of death, and beyond?

Section V: Supplemental Information

Glossary

Academia: Greater societal collection of professors and people who administer higher educational institutional curriculum.

Academic Sustainability Assembly: A Idea, just like it sounds, which has not yet been persued.

Action Research Teams: Group of students who work on a project directly viable to bring solutions to real problems in our communities.

Agenda 21: A comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations System, Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which human impacts on the environment. Originally adopted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by 172 in June 1992.

Balance: Indescribable theological and scientific discipline, which could be described as endless fluctuating tension and activity to create stabilizing forces resulting in change.

Balance of Everything: A understanding that beyond they cycle of life (which includes sustainability), there is also the cycle of death, energy etc. . . where everything balances together.

Blueprint for a Sustainable Campus: The entire UCSC community’s vision that is updated annually at the Campus Earth Summit; it contains information on history, best practices, goals, indicators, and priorities with regards to specific sustainability topic areas.

Board of Advisors: Or Advisory Board; a group of people who are a permanent part of a community, especially when students come and go, and build continuity by meeting with changing leadership of an organization.

Campus Earth Summit: Annual conference to facilitate collaboration between faculty, staff, students, administration, and the community to draft the Blueprint for a Sustainable Campus.

Campus Earth Festival: Somewhat annual event to celebrate the work and achievements made within the sustainability movement on campus.

Campus Sustainability Plan: The official campus action plan to implement sustainability policies, goals, and priorities; it is created through collaboration.

Closed System: Understanding and structure that creates separate and fragmented distinctions between truly interconnected yet independent systems.

CSAC: 1) (Chancellors Sustainability Action Council): Highest level chancellors committee responsible for creating the Campus Sustainability Plan, implementation of UC Regent mandates, and tracking progress of sustainability on campus. 2) (California Sustainability Advisory Council): Highest level advisory body of the CSSC (California Student Sustainability Coalition).

CSC: (Campus Sustainability Council): Environmental branch of Student Government that funds sustainability projects on campus, legitimizes the Blueprint for a Sustainable Campus, and gives students access to the senior administration.

Collaboration: The concept of working together under all circumstances even if you disagree with the process or the outcome because by working together and supporting even your enemy, eventually they will be more willing to help out and implement recommendations when the time is right.

Collective (the): Group, community, participation, consciousness, and activity where all individuals melt away and become indistinguishable from the whole.

Collective Movement: The movement used in this paper discussing UC Santa Cruz and state wide activity which are a union of organizations that have been collaboratively founded.

Common Sense: Using your senses, your gut feeling, and past experiences or advice where you just know. Common sense includes reason, dialogue, and compromise.

Compost: The process of breaking down waste scraps to be consumed by microorganisms and pooped out to create hummus, a natural fertilizer for plants.

Concept: An imaginative abstract perception used as a general guide, plan, or method of behavior.

Concepts of Sustainable Living: The basic activities and lifestyles that can be used or adopted to apply and integrate Sustainable Living into ones own life.

Conscious Shifting: Conscious Systemic Change: The slow progression of our societies thought processes changing as a paradigm shift toward sustainability at the fundamental level.

Consciousness: Existence of an observer that has the ability to observe and focus attention.

CSSC: (California Student Sustainability Coalition): Coalition of student environmental organizations at UC campuses, State Universities and some Community Colleges. www.ucssc.org

CSSC Statewide Coordinator: Position(s) responsible for coordinating statewide communication and action for the CSSC (California Student Sustainability Coalition).

Cycle of Education: 1) A term to remember the oxy moron of teaching as a professor and learning as a student. Teaching and learning happen simultaneously and really encompass the concept of guidance. 2) Larger view of kids becoming adults and passing on knowledge

Cycle of Production: Refers to the entire life cycle of a product from natural resources, to sale, and then the decomposition process allowing resources to be introduced back into the natural environment.

Education For Sustainability Western Network: (also EFS West): First nationally renowned professional association encompassing academia mainly on the west side of North America.

Energy Action: National coalition of student and non-profit organizations working on national days of action and information sharing strategies. www.energyaction.org

ESLP: (Education for Sustainable Living Program) Student run, student taught class simultaneously administered at five UC campuses.

Experiential Learning: Education where the learner is actively applying the skill, which they are learning in a real life situation as supposed to make believe or in a book.

Green Building: Using recycled, renewable resources, and long term planning in construction.

Green Building Policy and Renewable Energy Standard: One of the most renowned sustainability policies passed by the University of California Regents currently being implemented at all ten UC’s.

Group Learning: Education where the answers and solutions are created and carried out within a group of peer students as opposed to being lectured or told to by a teacher.

Holistic Thinking: The understanding that everything is interconnected. Fixing surface problems will lead to greater problems as opposed to focusing on the cause of problems and the interconnection between all the aspects and factors that affect the many systems involved.

Hope: The indescribable glimmer of light deep in the conscious pscyci that will eternally shine the dimmest light in the darkest places just enough to keep going even in the worst of situations.

Individual (the): A single individual acting alone with a single consciousness. This can be applied at many levels of the individual organization or the individual cell within a person.

Integrated Systems Theory: Process of connecting many systems together to leave nothing behind. If one system create a waste, an other system is create to use and process that waste.

Intention: The conscious application of focusing a individual or collective attention on a higher plan with purpose and strategy and a deep sense of belief and truth when taking actions.

Interdependence: The concept that all individual and collective existences are interconnected and reliant on each other for basic survival.

Intrinsic Value: Giving value for existence & being, not use or judgment.

Kyoto Protocol: An international agreement requiring separate ratification by governments, but linked to the UN, that sets binding targets for the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions by industrialized countries. The Protocol, first signed in 1992, entered into force with Russia signing on in 2004.

Landfill: 1) The contents of a “trash” or “garbage” can; or 2) the location to where that contents is taken and sealed in the ground.

Living Building: A building with all of its systems existing internally from water collection to solar panel electricity production, resulting in a net reduction in resource consumption especially carbon.

Mandela: Circular art, which is often meditated on and can explain consciousness by visualizing each person as a spherical fluctuating emanation connected to larger ones.

Meditation: Simply sitting and listing to ones self including the breath, heart, mind, feelings, emotions, and energies. You need to do nothing more than sit and breath to call it meditation even if your mind is running a stampede, as long as you are consciously aware of yourself listening.

Move UC: The transportation campaign of the CSSC (California Student Sustainability Coalition). Sustainable Transportation realizes that all methods must be utilized collectively.

Natural Time: The eternal matrix, which we exist in as the single present moment encompassing the fourth dimension. Natural time cannot be seen or tracked by the third dimension or clocks/ calendars.

Open Systems: Are systems that interact and are actively interconnected with external activity.

Paradigm Shift: The concept of core fundamental changes, which radically change our collective reality and sociological functioning in a relatively short period of time.

Principle: The primary source or ingredient for moral and ethical laws, assumptions, [or beliefs] used for quality decision-making.

Principles of Sustainable Living: The overarching foundational ideas that can be used to guide our collective decision making toward more sustainable outcomes.

Quality: Perceived through the senses and feelings that create a state of wellbeing where fundamental needs are satisfied on all levels.

Quality of Life: A relative concept that allows evaluation of past and current circumstances to conclude improving or worsening of circumstances. With collective dialogue, quantitative indicators can be created to measure and track over time, but application is still relative.

Realm: A defined area of conceptual understanding that links interconnections with a particular focus, yet allows for interconnections to exist on all levels.

Realm of Life: The realm that exists as the collective grouping of all the realms of life, which make up its own realm.

Realms of Life: Each individual can have their own understanding of the world around them, but through their life the all-encompassing realm of Life remains the same for all people. Realms could be Dreams, Journey, Sustainability, Community, Government, and Business.

SEC: (Student Environmental Center of UC Santa Cruz) Founded Summer 2001, one of the foundational pillars of the collective movement united across the UC campuses with a focus on collaboration between faculty staff, students, and the community to implement environmentally sound practices. The SEC was based of the work done at the CU Boulder SEC. www.ucscsec.org

SEC Steering Committee: The central decision-making body where the collective movement at UC Santa Cruz is coordinated.

Second Nature: An national organization dedicated to accelerating a process of transformation in higher education, and assist colleges and universities in their quest to integrate sustainability.

SOS: (Students for Organic Solutions): Campaign of the SEC (Student Environmental Center) focused on food systems integration of sustainable, organic, and locally grown food.

Spectrums: Lists of ideas that are integrated in a specific natural order of how they are related.

Standardized Testing: Repeated tests that depict quality of education (teaching and learning) that do not take into account any discrepancies in backgrounds or comprehension of individuals.

Sustainability: Meeting our own needs without compromising future generations to meet their needs.

Sustainable Living: The overlap between the realm of Sustainability and Life.

System Dynamics: Also called integrated systems theory or systems thinking; utilizes all the components and how they relate or work off of each other (examples: ecology or building systems)

Talloires Declaration: A global declaration by University chancellors and presidents to make their universities to address the urgent environmental problems facing our world.

Time: 1) The linear time which appears on a clock. 2) The eternal Time that is relative to ones attention and can pass in an instant or last an eternity.

Trust: An indescribable feeling that fundamental needs will be taken care of to the highest level.

UC Regents: The University of California Regents are the highest governing body of the UC system with 26 representatives, 16 of which are chosen by the California governor.

UCSC SEC CSSC: The UC Santa Cruz chapter of the CSSC.

UCSC SEC ESLP: Santa Cruz chapter of the Education for Sustainable Living Program statewide.

Warrior YOGA™: Based off of the traditional positions of Astanzga and Hatha YOGA, it balances strength and flexibility to create a YOGA perfect for the martial athlete.

Waste Prevention: 1) A understanding that all waste can be diverted through reduction, reusing, recycling, and composting to be returned to the natural environment. 2) The SEC’s (Student Environmental Center) Campaign focused on increasing waste prevention programs.

YOGA: Union. Mind, body, breath, and emotional control are used to bring balance and harmony within a individuals living systems.

List of Appendices

Website located at www.jacobslife.org/suslive/sustainableliving.html

Binder One: Supplemental Thesis Information & Organizational Documentation Archives

Detailed List Of Appendices for Binder One & Binder Two

Outlines
Section- There are only 5 sections
Sub-Sections- Basically the table of contents
Paragraph Titles- Lists the titles of each paragraph within the sub sections
Paragraph Keywords- Lists a few keywords for each paragraph
Sentence Titles- Gives a few words on each sentence
Sentence Keywords- Lists every keyword in every sentence
Sentences- Has every sentence in outline format

Sustainable Living Journal
First paper on "New" Living and Sustainable Development
Paper on the Student Environmental Center (SEC)

Other referenced work from organizations
Constitutions & Guiding Documents

Blueprint for a Sustainable Campus
CSAC Proposal
CSC Governing Documents
CSSC & UCSSC Governing Protocol Proposals
Green Building and Renewable Energy Standard
SEC Constitution

Organizations

Campus Sustainability Council (CSC)
Chancellors Sustainability Action Council (CSAC)
California Student Sustainability Coalition (CSSC)
Education For Sustainability Western Network (EFS West)
Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP)
Student Environmental Center (SEC)