Center Models Living Sustainably

Our 25-Year Journey Toward a Sustainable Future has Brought Positive Change

The Center for the Environment’s 25th anniversary invites serious reflection on the many ways we have brought positive change to our community and our region – efforts that have laid the foundation for the next 25 years. We began in 1996 with a strong commitment to addressing the environmental challenges our region faced, a desire to serve as a role model for those who want to move toward sustainability, and a pledge to involve Catawba students and faculty in our endeavors. That is why, from the onset, we have brought diverse people together – community members who realized the value of a beautiful greenway; developers who learned about the importance of green space and mixeduse development; parents who were concerned about the foods they served their families; grandparents who saw the horrifying effects of ground level ozone on their grandchildren’s asthma; bankers who offered financial support to the Clean Air Initiative because they knew it impacted our citizens’ quality of life. Those connections have generated changes that have benefitted our region. In this publication you will read about the causes that, together, we have championed; the ways we have worked together to educate the region; and the moments of transformation we have witnessed when we have offered opportunities for handson experiences or hosted conferences that educate and inspire. As I review this magazine, I am in awe of the large number of people who have worked with us in different ways over these 25 years. Thanks to each and every one of you. I am truly grateful.

John Wear Founding Director Center for the Environment

John Wear and students capture aquatic invertebrates in Grant’s Creek. (1995) The Stanback Ecological Preserve captures water off the watershed, provides habitat, and preserves land.

Center Models Living Sustainably

The Center for the Environment has from the beginning worked to set an example for living sustainably. It not only advocates for lessening our impact on the earth; it adheres to that commitment in everything it does, whether it is building a facility and conserving natural resources or preserving land and enhancing wildlife habitat.

Words and deeds are one at the Center. The staff understands that actions speak volumes, and students often absorb ideas and ideals by witnessing sustainability in action. The following pages highlight some of the ways the Center has modeled environmental stewardship during the past 25 years.