A Lesson In Sustainability

Over the last month, various workdays have been occurring at the Big Darby Nature Preserve. I’ve been lucky to attend most of them, which allowed me to connect with like-minded people and to learn a new trick of the trade. It’s the pattern of sustainability that occurs among people who give of their time to accomplish these projects. I’ve noticed this pattern in two forms, first being the people that volunteer and second being the tasks themselves.

First, the people help make these projects possible give their time week after week. They come out on their days off to pull at weeds and pick up trash. More often then not they come back because of their drive to see their work pay off. They’re sustainable and fervent people. They have, at their core, a capacity to endure whatever task is thrown at them as they’ve pledged a long-term commitment to the maintenance of the Big Darby. They don’t shy from new tools or new responsibilities and many of them have an aspiration to see the big picture completed. They meet the present need without giving up. Trust me when I tell you their commitment is inspiring.

Secondly, the leadership team at the Big Darby is constantly finding ways to make the tasks sustainable. From the tools used to the trash collected someone is always salvaging and fashioning something new from discarded articles. Earlier in the month trail signs were created from old honeysuckle stumps. They’re gnarly and wonderfully artistic. They look like they’re springing from the ground to point the visitors along the trail. Just this Tuesday older items that I looked at as junk, a couple of old beams and a solid wooden box, quickly become a table.

All the tasks I’m working on and the people I encounter have this common thread of sustainability running through them that makes the Big Darby a wonderful work environment. Sustainability is the science of both long-term relationships and long-term use of a single item. The Big Darby leadership team has created a program that is diverse, productive, and long lasting resulting in an atmosphere of permanence.