Giving your students the ‘eco-factor’

This is part 2 of our article series, “How to make your classroom green”. In part 1 we set up the green classroom. In part 2 we’re focusing on the students.

Do your students consider the environment when they make decisions? Is sustainability part of their repertoire when working on projects?

Every action has a consequence. If you can make sure the ‘eco-factor’ is present in your students decision making processes, it will not only make them greener, it will make them more pragmatic well rounded decision makers – something they can apply to more than just green issues.

What is the eco-factor?

What impact does what I’m doing have on the environment? That’s the eco-factor in any decision. This question can be applied to almost anything. It’s another card in your student’s hand, whether it is applied to debating, marketing, design, food technology, architecture, IT or even PE.

Careers revolving around or involving sustainability issues and other green issues are in growth and will remain in growth. Ingraining the eco-factor in your students understanding of a wide variety of topics is not only common sense; it may give them an edge.

Students need to understand that the environment should be an element of almost any decision they make, with regard to work and lifestyle habits, whether the decision be what they eat for lunch or what materials to use in their technology project.

Using visual consequences to educate your students to be eco-friendly

Children (and many adults) may not take much notice of the fact that every action has a consequence somewhere down the line, out of sight. Therefore you may need to help associate specific consequences with actions. For example, when one of your students throws a piece of plastic packaging in the bin, ask them, “where do you think that plastic will go?” See what they say. If they don’t understand why they need to recycle plastics they won’t do it, so you need to educate them.

Often, posters and media images aimed at encouraging us to reduce our impact on the environment focus on facts and figures, while ignoring underlying reasoning. Kids are fast learners and they can get enthusiastic about something if it is interesting and has a high impact on the world AND they feel they can get involved in making change.

The little things make a lot of difference

What did you have for lunch today? It’s a simple question. But most people wouldn’t think about where the ingredients for their lunch came from. Were they from the nearest farm, or were they shipped from a thousand miles away? Did their farming cause massive deforestation? Would your students understand the impact shipping goods overseas has on greenhouse gas emissions?

How do you make sure your students are using the ‘eco-factor’?

If you teach classes regularly, hopefully you’ve already got some good ideas. Or maybe you’ve just thought up a great way of ingraining green in your students. Either way we’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Comments are open…