How can we teach sustainability to those who need it the most?
Moving past ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ in elementary school education
Addressing climate change is arguably most important for younger generations who will be the most impacted, but the current educational approach to sustainability issues is riddled with unsustainable practices. Now what do I mean by sustainability? Simply, I mean reusing things that we have, so we can stop using up resources to make more things and stop impacting the existing resources with trash and greenhouse gases.
We are well beyond ‘reduce, reduce, recycle.’ As well-intentioned (and cheap) as repurposing water bottles and cardboard is in class projects or at-home crafts,it is sending the wrong message. Extending the life of a single-use product one more day does not outweigh the production of it. It is letting kids know that it is okay to waste. Of course I am not saying don’t repurpose free recyclables for play and learning, but there is an opportunity for critical dialogue around the materials used- how to handle them to maintain their integrity, how to use them more than once, why they exist, their life cycle, and their impact.
For instance, disassembling projects after use can maintain the recyclability of materials. Adding glue and feathers to an empty milk jug creates a monstrous hybrid of different materials that will either end up in the landfill or compromise the recycling process. By dissembling projects after use into the original materials, kids can also develop practical cycles of reuse rather than one-off repurposing of their empty milk carton. This type of conscious prototyping is also a better intellectual exercise. Figuring out how to make a reusable joint is more challenging and therefore a better teachable moment than how to glue one thing to another. Making or using a reusable joint is an intellectual puzzle that kids can feel excited about and proud to work through.
The shift to sustainable practices can also help kids feel proud of their own impact, and empower them to think critically and have actionable insights into other existing social norms. The material analysis they learn can help them understand the world around them and how fragile the ecosystem is. In short, to consider sustainability is to think systemically and analytically. Critical analysis and systems-thinking are invaluable skills, and luckily they are teachable skills. It can sometimes feel like it is not possible to make a differenceand that this requires corporate or governmental solutions rather than individuals’ solutions, but teachers know more than anyone the impact one person can have to educate and inspire others. One person affects not just those in their classroom but also in the community around them — parents, neighbors, friends.
I am currently working on a hands-on curriculum offers a methodology to assess and analyze sustainability problems.Although specifically catered towards grades 4–6, it really could be used for age 8+. It covers design for disassembly (materials/products), recycling (system), analyzing personal habits (individual change), analyzing corporate/national policies (systemic change). The first two modules (product and system) explain what the problem is — why certain products can’t be recycled and why recycling is an overwhelmed system. The second two modules focus on what changes can be made — what does it mean to be a critical consumer and what can companies do differently to shift to a circular economy.
Although this is not yet available (stay tuned!), I wanted to share some basic questions to consider in your maker-space or craft area. The curriculum gives a context to these questions but in the meantime, if you would like more context… check out everything Ellen MacArthur Foundation. This is also a great article on where the industry is/can go.
Just remember that although it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the hard-to-comprehend impending doom, everything helps.
