“I’m going to be honest, I have no idea what sustainable means,” blurted out my mom over the holiday.

I wasn’t surprised. The term has been applied to a variety of seemingly unrelated things from grocery stores to recreational sports. In my opinion, sustainable is a way of thinking. It is taking the future and environment into account in everyday decisions, or rather focusing on the long-term effects.

While I was living in the Republic of Panama, I witnessed an event that illustrates my concept of sustainability perfectly. A couple of years ago, reforestation became very popular. The government even offered a forestry visa for foreigners that invested in reforestation. Teak was the favorite tree to plant because of its high market value. Many reforestation companies rushed to plant as many teaks as possible while others planted both teaks and native species. As it turned out, teaks needed the native plants to balance out the acidic quality that they added to the soil. The plots filled with the teaks rendered the soil arid. And the plots interspersed with native species were able to sustain multiple harvests because they provided the balance that the soil needed to stay fertile.