As I sat watching new sod being laid on the new mall, I couldn’t help but wonder: when did it become voluntary to care about things outside of ourselves? Maybe the botanists in the Biology department disagree, but this new sod requires a lot of water, it is not native to the area and it is unnecessary considering the amount of grass already on campus that students don’t tend to sit on. Where is the Minnesota prairie grass that the renderings of the new mall showed us last year? Maybe it has something to do with cost.

These seemingly insignificant choices matter. Although there are many choices that each of us make for ourselves everyday, we are called as members of the Gustavus community to look beyond ourselves, beyond our ever-present desire for efficiency and cost effectiveness.

For example, do we choose to buy local and organic and pay an extra twenty-five dollars on our grocery run, and maybe even sacrifice our Cocoa Puffs? Or do we save the twenty-five dollars and continue to support agribusiness and subsidies that affect the entire global economy?

Another example: when an over-intoxicated someone at the party is being forced up the stairs to someone’s bedroom, we have a responsibility to help this someone as a fellow member of the community. These issues are not black and white, but they beg the question: to what are we responsible? How much are we willing to let our own interests, be them financial, egotistical, or what have you, get in the way of the ultimate goal—care for others on the planet?

Caring for things in the long term cannot be simply voluntary. It cannot be something we only do when we feel like we are up to it, or when we have the money to do it. To really make a difference, we must be willing to act when it is not convenient.
The truth is that no one is independent of these issues. They affect us all, whether we are aware of it or not. It’s about understanding that we live together, all of us, on this planet, in this country, on this hill. Our responsibility to others should be reflected in all that we do. And I say “we” because it cannot be an altruistic few that uphold the environmentalism, safety, trust and academic integrity of this community.

Here’s a thought for you: Gustavus’s beverage contract with Coca-Cola ends this year. The Coca-Cola company has been draining water tables in India, one of their most precious resources, since the 1980s in order to make their product less expensive. What we decide about this contract matters. Could our campus survive without its precious Diet Coke if we don’t renew the contract? Or could we find a more ethical way to provide tasty beverages to the campus? The decision falls to us now, Gusties.

Now where could I find a nice soft grassy area to mull this over?