With the world’s increasing awareness of it’s effects on the environment, one class this spring semester will bring it all into perspective.

The class is Sustainability and will be offered Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. The class will be team-taught and is the capstone of the ecolonomics program. It is the main requirement for students going for their minors in sustainability or their certificates in ecolonomics. Both are interdisciplinary studies.

Instructors teaching the class will be Dr. Tom Simpson, professor of political science; Dr. John Knapp, professor of geophysics; Dr. Nii Abrahams, associate professor of economics; and Rob Wood, executive director of the Institute of Ecolonomics, bringing all aspects of ecolonomics into one class.

“This is a real unique opportunity to see the pluses of how the different disciplines can work together and see some of these ideas in action,” Wood said. “We’re going to see a couple of renewable energy projects, some alternative building programs, and of course we have the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified nature center that is going to be put in at Wildcat Park. So there’s lots of things going on right here where students can go and see things happening, not just look at it in the books.”

But what does this mean to Southern students?

“There are a lot of opportunities right now,” Wood said. “Fortune 500 companies like Du Pont, Hewlett Packard and Ford Motor Company are moving towards becoming more sustainable in their processes and their products.

“One of the biggest players that has jumped on the scene has been Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has actually really moved forward with a huge number of sustainability minded programs.”

Wood said that currently Wal-Mart has two pilot projects, one in Colorado and one in Texas.

Both are operating stores that focus on using solar power for renewable energy and sell several types of organic products.

Currently Wal-Mart has three aggressive goals in attaining sustainability. They are to be eventually supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, to create zero waste and to sell products that sustain natural resources and th environment. Wood said he originally thought Wal-Mart was merely “greenwashing” itself to look good, but after further investigation he found Wal-Mart is sincere in it’s attempts at sustainability. Wood also believes this will have a major effect on the market and will cause other large companies to make changes to achieve sustainability.

“When you look at Wal-Mart as they make commitments towards these ideas it basically moves itself back up the supply chain,” Wood said. “The more and more suppliers that they work with that want to fit this model the more and more businesses are going to change.”

And as the market changes the need for workers with certificates in sustainability will increase.

“For Missouri Southern students, especially if they are business majors or economic majors, Wal-Mart is a major employer and having a background in ecolonomics and the ideas of sustainability can only be beneficial,” Wood said. “Whether going into political science, public policy, environmental health or any aspect of business this is the way the world is going.”

Wood said anyone interested in a certificate in sustainability should look into the ecolonomics department because it not only looks good on a resume but it also only requires 13 credit hours to complete.