On the surface, communicating about sustainability seems to focus on rallying people to address the topic through education, information, warning, and persuasion. However, at a deeper level, our varied experiences, mental and cultural models, as well as underlying beliefs and worldviews, influence how we communicate about sustainability. In general, accounting for where an individual is coming from is crucial to effective communication, and resources to aid engaging in this type of successful communication are outlined below. 

Energy use is the largest driver of Penn State’s greenhouse gas emissions and it costs about $30 million annually to provide heat and air conditioning to our buildings, electricity that make our day to day work possible, and fuel for our vehicles. The Physical Plants at all of our campuses work consistently to increase efficiency of our buildings, which has reduced our energy use, but there are actions that Penn Staters can take to cut waste. The resources below can help you and your peers understand the impact that energy has on climate change both in our individual decisions, as well as with large scale operations. 

While there are benefits to recycling, there are also many issues. Where possible, it’s best not to create waste in the first place. That’s where the Five R’s (Rethink, reduce, reuse, repurpose and recycle) come in. There are several versions of this framework, but the underlying values are the same. The Five R’s offer a fleshed out framework for thinking about the objects we bring into our lives and how we dispose of them. Awareness is a critical first step. With practice, this framework will become part of your everyday decision making process. Remember – every small action adds up! 

Long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns are referred to as climate change. These changes in the most recent centuries have been caused by human activity—primarily the combustion of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. Climate change causes adverse effects on the planet, such as forest fires, increased drought and rising sea levels. In Pennsylvania, we are seeing the impact of climate change in the increased extreme weather events, such as intense rain storms which can cause flooding; a rise in Lymes disease due to warmer winters, and more frequent deaths due to intense summer heat events. The below resources outline in depth what climate change is, what it means for our planet and people, and steps the Centre county region is planning to prepare for adaptation.  

The focus in this section is water, the life blood of life. Pause for a moment and look around to consider how water connects to everything around us. Up to 60 percent of the adult human body is water and it is essential for survival. Sometimes we take this resource for granted and it is in times of drought, or pollution driven shortages that we take time to consider its value. In this section, we will pause to consider how we use this resource.  

Did you know that only 2.5 percent of our planet’s water is fresh and we depend on this water for growing crops, cooling our power plants, hydrating our bodies, caring for our animals, bathing and producing materials. Reducing water use, either through conservation or preventing leaks decreases the stress on our local water supplies. Consider adopting sustainable habits such as not leaving the water running when washing the dishes, brushing your teeth, and watering your garden. 

Environmental racism is a form of systematic racism in which marginalized communities are plagued with excessive environmental hazards in comparison to more privileged communities. Environmental justice aims to highlight these wrongs, and bring all people and communities equal environmental protection. The below resources can help us understand the full extent of what environmental justice means and how certain communities face disproportionate amounts of injustices.  

The variety of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms that make up our natural world are all included in what is known as biodiversity. All of these critters collaborate in complicated web-like ecosystems to keep nature in balance and support life. We cannot have the healthy ecosystems that we depend on to give us the oxygen we breathe and the food we consume without a diverse variety of animals, plants, and microbes. The resources outlined below showcase what biodiversity means in terms of benefitting our planet.