As people here and elsewhere come to accept that our societies need to become more "sustainable," a question that is being asked with growing frequency is, "what is 'sustainable' going to look like?"  The answer for most things is likely to be at least somewhat different than they are now.  One of the things people seem to be realizing is that there is not going to be one end-all sustainable solution that humans can implement; sustainability is going to look different everywhere, shaped by different environments, the needs of different people, and available resources.

So what is sustainability going to look like at Carleton?  What does sustainable mean for Carleton students, receiving a liberal arts education at a college with improving sustainable infrastructure, located on the landscape that historically has formed the border between the forest and prairie biomes, and in the rather unique climate of southern Minnesota?  The following pages are devoted, roughly, to exploring these questions.