Galloway, N.J. – Patrick Hossay, professor of Sustainability at Stockton, has been part of the University community for 25 years and initially taught Political Science for 13 of those years. He and his colleagues formed the Sustainability Program about 12 years ago – one of the first such degree programs in the nation. He has been the chair of the program ever since.

His immense knowledge and passion for sustainability was at the forefront of a luncheon hosted by Visit Atlantic City, which he was asked to present in Washington, D.C, recently.

Hossay’s participation at the event came about when a group from Visit Atlantic City came to campus as part of an Office of Continuing Studies & Adult Education program.

“I met and spoke with them in my lab, and I guess they were impressed, as they later invited me to speak at this luncheon,” Hossay said.

During his presentation, Hossay wanted to provide a short overview of sustainability by engaging some of the misconceptions and facile notions that often define “sustainability” in the public mind.

“Sustainability is not simply about recycling or driving an electric car; it's defined as actively and carefully evaluating how we might make our activities more efficient, cleaner, more just, and healthy and ensuring that our efforts allow future generations to continue to do this," Hossay noted. "It can be exciting and fun and allow us to identify better ways to do things. So, we need to get rid of the simplistic idea or a sort of "checkbox environmentalist," the notion that we do A, B and C, and we're done. We don't save the planet by handing out reusable shopping bags or "green" swag. We do it through a process of carefully identifying opportunities to improve our lives while bringing our activities in line with the Earth's capacities. We do it by making the 'green' option the fun, exciting or easy one.”

After his talk, Hossay enjoyed many conversations with participants, several who made a point of thanking him for helping bring an important topic to their organization. Being part of this type of experience supports one of the sustainability program’s core founding principles to promote sustainability education and awareness across the University and the public.

“Some may find it unusual to connect with the folks who promote and organize conferences and events to promote sustainability. They may imagine that my activities might be more confined to environmental clubs, perhaps cyclists, and maybe a gardening organization or two. But sustainability is everyone's concern and needs to be incorporated in professional conversations across the board and at all levels,” Hossay explained. “So, my colleagues and I frequently connect with everything from car clubs to municipal organizations to businesses large and small. Addressing the global challenges we all collectively face will require an 'all hands on deck' approach with ‘all ideas on the table.’”

Reported by Mandee McCullough

Photo courtesy of Visit Atlantic City