Discovery Blog

You may hear the word sustainability a lot, but do you know what it means? If the answer is "no," don't worry, you're not alone! In this post you'll find a simple summary of what sustainability is all about, an easy way to remember that, some thoughts about why sustainability truly is "a Hiram thing," and ways to get in on the action.

Driving along the streets of Cincinnati, in the “Grampsmobile,” my beige 2000 Buick LeSabre adorned with a Ducks Unlimited license plate and an I ? Frogs bumper sticker, I sat listening to the “90-Second Naturalist,” a public radio program hosted by Cincinnati Zoo’s Thayne Maynard.

“The one with the most trash wins.” With those words, Professor Sarah Mabey sent off her crew of dozens of volunteers on Sunday, April 24 in canoes and kayaks to clean up the Cuyahoga River and Eagle Creek. And the day before that, Hiram students organized an Earth Day Fair, complete with booths, music, and the Green Machine food truck.

Over the next few months, the area pictured below will be transformed: from sad little rectangles of gravel, dirt, and tire tracks to beautiful oases of living color. A big thank you from the SEED Scholars to all of you who helped dig gravel out of the future garden beds in Martin Commons on Sugar Day. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Food is an instrument for connecting communities through cultural exchanges, social gatherings, and fundraisers for social good. Sharing food with others effectively keeps us connected and reminds us of the importance that it plays in our everyday lives. Whenever I have made space at the table for more to share a meal with me, the meal is always more satisfying.

I remember going to the garden as a little girl and helping my parents pick tomatoes, peppers, green beans, and other fruits and veggies. I loved basking in the sun and getting my hands dirty without a care in the world. (Check out me “helping” my dad with yard work.) I know now that these experiences have profoundly shaped who I am…and who I continue to become.

It’s good to be periodically reminded that the visible world of life as we know it is only a small slice of reality, resting upon universes of interrelated processes normally hidden from view.

Most of us put a lot of thought and effort into how we can be happier and healthier. And many of us also make efforts to help out the planet, too. But why do we prioritize them so differently? Why will we always eat when we're hungry or put on a sweatshirt when we're cold, but we only recycle or remember our reusable grocery bags when it's convenient for us?

This Spring 3-week, Hiram College offered an intriguing new course called Building Community Resilience. This course focused on different ways to strengthen a community and improve quality of life through attention to local environmental, social, and economic systems. One of the more underappreciated ways to go about improving community resilience is through the arts.