In an effort to encourage and promote sustainability, Merida Home is offering a $1,000 scholarship to the high school student who best expresses Merida’s key theme: sustainability with style.
Thomas W. Ricks Jr. – Front Royal VA
What “Sustainability with Style” means to me.
It’s safe to say the world is falling apart as a result of human actions. Pollution, global warming, overfishing and topsoil destruction are just a few of the issues facing our planet’s ecology that have been attributed to humans. It’s also safe to say that we must, as workers, as students, as producers, as consumers and as artists, respond to this threat with all the ingenuity and lust for life that brought the threat itself into being. Sustainability doesn’t mean a tiny population of people living austerely, in huts, subsisting. It means a vibrant culture, working together to live in within the means of our planet-sized spaceship, seeking to live in a world of harmony and beauty. It means utilizing human creativity to define the aesthetic that will guide us into that world. It means that a belt made out of a recycled bike tire or sustainably harvested textile fibers aren’t merely quirky, generation-y conceits, but a vision and a goal for the future.
‘Sustainability with style’ means sharing your love of beauty with others AND caring for the planet and its sensitive ecology. This is achieved by not only being diligent in one’s habits and conscientious in one’s purchases, but inventive and creative in finding new ways to lower ones impact. This means the form and the function are no longer separate; sustainability is stylish (because protecting the environment is always current and important) and hence style must be sustainable; Sustainability with style is a math equation, and it’s the job of producers and consumers to ensure that it balances out. So while the Green Movement might be criticized as “trendy” or “hip,” do we have another option? For once, style can be a powerful statement of a culture’s values and vision for the future, as opposed to merely a vapid ploy to keep consumers buying. ‘Sustainability with style’ can also be a commitment to quality; poor quality materials and craftsmanship result in a product that doesn’t last long, and while this is a good short-term business strategy (products will need replacing, etc.), it’s a poor long-term strategy for our planet and for people in general.
A company with the slogan ‘Sustainability with style’ should be committed to selling quality, stylish, environmentally sound products; ones with elegance, beauty, and durability - meeting the challenge of a green economy with spirit and elan.