It isn't easy being green.(IN HER OWN WORDS)

 
  "The often invoked term 'sustainability' tends to obscure the 
  seriousness of the situation." 
  --Val Plumwood, writing in Environmental Culture: The Ecological 
  Crisis of Reason 

It took us less than a year to build. As I stood before the flashbulbs with a group of students at the official opening of "The Learning Garden" on our campus, I knew the most important part of the process had already taken place.

A few years ago I began my first job as a university professor. Like most new professors, I bubbled with optimism, taking on every task that was sent my way; one minute I was developing a brand new eco-centred teacher training program, the next I was selling hamburgers at the staff BBQ. Fall quickly turned to winter and I soldiered on with my books and burger flipper, telling myself: the work is good, it is important.

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The idea for an eco-centred education program must have sounded odd to those around me. I referred to environmental educators like David Orr and Val Plumwood and the urgent need to move toward concepts like ecological justice and interdisciplinary curriculum. The state superintended of education in California started a "garden in every school" policy in 1995. This work was grounded in research and practice.

I noticed there was neither a garden on campus nor a school garden in town, located in one of the largest agricultural valleys in the country. The town was growing rapidly, and the timing seemed right. I thought that providing a model school garden for teachers and students might encourage them to build their own.

As a professor of education, I wanted to teach not just to the ways things were but also to consider the ways things could be. Each day I rode the bus home through the drought stricken valley, golf courses in the distance, still believing: this work is good, it is important.