Introduction
White Spoon (By Volodymyr Hryshchenko on unsplash.com)
Sustainable consumption and production is all about promoting resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure and jobs that provide access to basic services, decent work and a better quality of life for everyone. When we consume and produce sustainably, we are trying to do more with less. It involves consumers, producers, policy-makers, researchers and media making informed choices along the course of the supply chain. Reducing our waste, establishing environmental protection policies, supporting the development of sustainable businesses and educating the public are all ways we can help improve our consumption and production.
Every action of man has effects on the environment, an impact to which we often do not pay due attention. This impact is measured through the so-called ecological footprint.
The higher the ecological footprint, the more the health of the planet is at risk: it means that while man does not want to diminish his demands, the Earth struggles to "keep up with him", and fails to replace what he has consumed.
Scientists have calculated that we are currently living as if we have more or less one and a half Earth at our disposal, and before 2050 we will come to consume as if we had two.
The aim of this activity is to make the students aware of how each of our actions can have an impact on the planet and on our future, realizing that we have a short time to save our earth.
The aim of the activity is to stimulate students to seek first-hand solutions to reduce the negative impact we are having on the planet and to be an active part of the change as if we don’t do something to curb our consumption and make our production more sustainable, we are going to degrade our environment to a point of no return.
Learning Objectives
- The learner understands how individual lifestyle choices influence social, economic and environmental development.
- The learner is able to envision sustainable lifestyles.
- The learner is able to feel responsible for the environmental and social impacts of their own individual behaviour as a producer or consumer.
- The learner is able to encourage others to engage in sustainable practices in consumption and production.
- The learner is able to plan, implement and evaluate consumption-related activities using existing sustainability criteria.
- The learner is able to promote sustainable production patterns.
- Anticipatory competency
- Strategic competency
- Critical thinking competency
- Self-awareness competency
Instructions
Step 1) Introduction (30 minutes)
Students will be shown an introduction video on sdg 12 (MAN). After viewing the video, the teachers will introduce additional explanations of the goal of sustainable development (they can draw inspiration from THEORIC INTRODUCTION OF SDG 12 in the Notes for Educators).
Step 2) Ecological footprint (30 minutes)
To understand how every human action has an effect on the environment, it may be useful to calculate the ecological footprint: an indicator that measures the consumption by humans of the natural resources that the Earth produces.
Teachers will explain the ecological footprint concept to the students. Students will then have to fill out an online questionnaire (via one of Calculate your footprint links) to calculate their ecological footprint.
Step 3) Reflection on the results obtained (30 minutes)
At the end of the questionnaire, the teacher will open a discussion with the students to reflect on the results obtained in the questionnaire, paying attention to the fact that the higher the ecological footprint, the more the health of the planet is at risk: it means that while man does not begin to diminish his demands, the Earth struggles to "keep up with him," and fails to replace what he has consumed.
The teacher will then shortly introduce some solutions to help lower our ecological footprint such as, for example, choosing to travel by a bike or public transport, eating seasonal fruits and vegetables, or remembering to turn off the lights when we leave a room and switching pc or tv off when we are not using them.
Step 4) Group work (90 minutes)
After completing the questionnaire, students can be divided into groups according to the different areas analyzed by the ecological footprint moving through the following areas and questions:
- Food: the food sector offers many possibilities to reduce its ecological footprint. But what is the correct conduct from an ecological point of view? What can I change in my eating and buying habits to reduce my ecological footprint? How do you think consumption of animal products can affect the impact on the Earth?
- Housing: how do you think consumption such as electricity, oil or water can have an influence on the ecological footprint? What are the daily attitudes that you can change at home to contribute to more sustainable consumption and reduce your ecological footprint?
- Transportation: the most harmful environmental damage is caused by vehicles powered by petrol or diesel. How do you think our daily movements affect the impact we have on earth? What are the alternative solutions that we can adopt to reduce the ecological footprint?
- Consumer goods: how do you think the money you spend each month on leisure and culture can affect your ecological footprint? Have you ever thought that every pair of sneakers, every appliance, every pretty home accessory needs resources and energy to be produced? What do you think are the solutions for making more sustainable decisions?
- Services: public services are at your disposal as often as you need, 24 hours a day. Obviously you cannot directly influence the extent of the impact that the use of these services may have on the environment. However, how do you think these services could take appropriate measures to reduce the environmental impact?
The students will be divided into groups of about 5 people with the aim of showing the results obtained in the questionnaire by starting a research on possible solutions to reduce our ecological footprint. They put together the found solutions in a powerpoint presentation and present it to others.
- CALL TO ACTION 1
Students create a market with eco-sustainable products created by them. The idea is that everyone creates handmade products of an eco-sustainable nature such as soaps, cosmetics, detergents, objects created with recycled material, creation of clothes directly from used fabrics, jewelry, candles, shirts with slogans, maps, cakes/dishes prepared by students made with organic products and bought locally etc. (The teachers could use Handmade product ideas source to get some inspiration)
The idea is to create a kind of workshop where students and teachers will collaborate together to create these products. If there isn’t enough time for it, you can assign this task to the students to do at home (it would be optimal if each student brings at least one/two products). They also need to attach a label to explain how the product was made. Next, create a market in the school involving families, children, school staff, friends, etc. to sell these products. The earnings from the market can be donated to associations which help underdeveloped populations (you can find some ideas in Notes for Educators).
- CALL TO ACTION 2
The idea is to create an eco-sustainable break area in the training centre. The vending machines, although essential for lunch breaks, devour energy at all hours of the day and night. In fact, the use of automatic machines involves a great use of raw materials and, consequently, a greater amount of waste to be disposed of at the end of life. Through the automatic distribution of food it is possible to propose a healthier and more conscious lifestyle, also through a varied and balanced diet, accurate consumer information and an active participation of managers, which provides attention to the quality of the food, to environmental sustainability and to food waste.
The students with the teachers will draw up a sheet in which they will briefly introduce objective 12 of responsible consumption and production and the causes and consequences of the impact we are having on planet Earth with the purpose to raise awareness of the issue.
The sheet contains a proposal to change the school policy regarding vending machines.
The goal is to start collecting signatures in school (including teachers, pupils and school staff) with the aim of implementing changes within the automatic distribution in one of the following fields:
- Energy-saving systems: use of LED lights, for energy saving and/or installation of time switches, which keep the distributors off from dusk to dawn;
- Distribution by operators of biodegradable or low-impact C02 glasses for coffee machines;
- Introduction of zero kilometer water dispensers;
- Eco-sustainable vending: introduction of organic products with simple and healthy ingredients, zero-kilometer products, products with local brands, fair trade products and introduction of recyclable packaging that reduces the use of plastics.
After obtaining the signatures the students will send the petition to the suppliers of automatic machines and, if possible, they will act personally to implement the innovations (for example through the active search of local brands that can be introduced in the vending machine or through the replacement of the systems themselves).
Resources
Click each section below to see all resources available.
Resources
Click each section below to see all resources available.
Notes for Educators
Estimated Total Duration: 3 hours + Call to Action
THEORIC INTRODUCTION OF SDG 12:
- http://webblog.forumzumaustauschzwischendenkulturen.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2017_Teaching_the_Sustainable_Development_Goals.pdf
- http://mcic.ca/pdf/SDG_Primer_FINAL.pdf
- https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-consumption-production/
BRAINSTORM:
- Decide on the topic you want to propose and formulate it in a question that allows many possible answers.
- Write the question where everyone can see it.
- Ask people to contribute their ideas and write them where everyone can see them. They should be loose words or short sentences.
- Stop exchanging ideas only when there are no more ideas
- Review suggestions and request comments
Be careful of:
- write each new suggestion. Often, the most creative suggestions are the most useful and interesting.
- no one should comment or judge what was written before the end or repeat the ideas already mentioned
- say your ideas only if necessary to encourage the group
- if a suggestion is not clear, ask for clarification, encourage everyone to contribute
HOW TO SPREAD THE INFORMATION IN AN ATTRACTIVE WAY:
The work produced by working groups or research output usually results in pages that, while interesting, often cause a rapid decrease in interest and loss of attention. Therefore, it is advisable to suggest that students translate their group work or research into more attractive and interesting presentations. However, it is suggested to prepare multimedia presentations instead of paper materials, not only because the first are more widely disseminated, but also because this is a way for students to develop their digital skills. Examples can be: multimedia presentations, slides, blogging, etc.
HOW TO SET UP GROUP WORK:
- Encouraging responsibility: when people feel they own what they are doing, they usually fight for success.
- Creating groups that take into account the characteristics, talents and learning styles: the more homogeneous a group is, the less creative and rich the work will be.
- Creating groups in such a way as to overcome class dynamics and pre-existing links: unequal groups encourage the comparison and testing of democratic processes.
- Do not leave groups alone in the work, but provide follow-up moments in which it is possible to take stock together and respond to any need.
ASSOCIATIONS THAT HELP UNDERDEVELOPED POPULATIONS:
- Oxfam: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/about-oxfam/
- United Nations Development Program (UNDP): http://www.undp.org/
- United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF): https://www.unicef.org/what-we-do
- United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA): http://unocha.org/what-we-do/policy/overview
- United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA):https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/about/what-we-do.html
- The Borgen Project: https://borgenproject.org/about-us/
- U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID): https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do
- Overseas Development Institute (ODI): https://www.odi.org/programmes
- Concern Worldwide: https://www.concern.net/about.
- The Hunger Project: http://www.thp.org/our-work/our-approach/
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF):https://www.gatesnotes.com/2017-Annual-Letter?WT.mc_id=02_14_2017_02_AL2017GFO_GF-GFO_&WT.tsrc=GFGFO
- World Bank Group: http://www.worldbank.org/en/what-we-do
- The Earth Institute: http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/1791
- The Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/about-us/who-we-are/mission-and-values
- Engineers Without Borders (EWB): http://www.ewb-usa.org/our-work/approach/