Event # 1: Academic Lecture

I attended a really interesting lecture a while ago about sustainability for the future. The CEO of a company came to speak about how his company has reacted to the rising global issues dealing with resources, pollution, and global warming. He is the CEO of a yogurt company that makes all natural, organic yogurt. They do not use chemicals or preservatives in the yogurt, and they actually pay their farmers to not use any chemicals such as pesticides or anything. The CEO talked about how being sustainable can actually be quite profitable. There of course is an initial cost in the beginning, but over the long run, many of these investments will save money later. An example of this was his company investing in a large waste holder facility that was very expensive. However, the facility stores the waste as it decomposes and traps the methane and other substances that are given off and is able to reuse this for energy for operational needs. This saves a whole lot of money in energy costs over the long run despite the huge initial investment. This is most likely what the future of many businesses is going to be like. I am really interested in sustainability and the future of our planet. One of the topics that really interested me was the idea of mimicking structures in nature to construct our buildings and other things. One of the examples was a building that stays relatively cool without air conditioning which is modeled after giant termite hills in Africa that are built with passages to allow air flow. This flow of air keeps the inside of the termite hill at a stable cool temperature compared to the outside surrounding temperature. It was a very interesting talk, and I got some free yogurt out of it.

The lecture added to my experience as a college student because I felt as if I was an informed citizen of the college community that participates in enriching activities. The lecture was definitely geared towards an audience that is interested in business and current environmental issues such as resources and population. However, the speech was very easy to understand and very interesting. I find myself becoming more interested in environmental issues that face the world now and in the near future. Maybe I will be able to incorporate these interests into whatever major I decide to pursue.