Conclusion

"Nature is the living visible garment of God" - inscription above an entrance to Holland Hall. photo by Lauren Anderson '06

At the beginning the 21 st century, St. Olaf College is not sustainable. Environmentally speaking, we're probably a detriment to the planet. But we can do better, and we are.

Lots of people have been working on environmental issues for years. Thanks to Pete Sandberg and his staff, and to people like Gene Bakko and Bob Jacobel and Kathy Shea and Gary Deason and both Charles Umbanhowars, the college is already a leader in many aspects of campus ecology.

William Kittredge says that "We live in stories. What we are is stories. We do things because of what is called character, and our character is formed by the stories we learn to live in." At St. Olaf, all of us are telling a story we want to live in. This environmental story is one of them. Right now, we have a general idea about the characters and the plot. But the most wonderful thing is that-like all of history-it's a story in process, and it's open to lots of different characters. There's room for all of us-students, staff, faculty, administrators, regents, alumni, and friends of the college-in the story of sustaining St. Olaf.

Many people participated in the drafting of this document. Besides the members of the task force, they include many members of the St. Olaf faculty, administration and staff, and many students, most notably the Spring 2004 Campus Ecology class, which submitted their research reports to the task force. Special thanks go to students Jeff Foels and Laurie Moberg for research during the summer of 2004.