SDG 12 - #SustainableAndStylish

Back in time (By Becca McHaffie on unsplash.com)

The definition of a sustainable product is ‘an item or service that minimizes its impact on the environment at each phase of its life cycle’ (NSW Government 2011).

World population is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050, driven largely by growth in developing countries and countries with lower per-capita incomes.

Recent studies show that we are already exceeding the Earth’s ability to support our lifestyles, and have been doing so for approximately twenty years.

“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” may feel retro, but it’s just as important today as when the phrase was first coined. Every product we purchase has an environmental footprint, from the materials used to create it, to the pollution emitted during manufacturing, to the packaging that ends up in landfills.

The activity proposed here intends to focus on the provenance and production process of objects that we use daily, through an active research by students of shops that promote the sale of sustainable products with an ecological footprint, as well as the creation of an Instagram contest that promotes sustainable purchasing habits.

The goal is that students develop a consciousness about their consumption behavior in a society that pushes individuals to buy compulsively and to continually replace the old with the new, changing young people's minds about a consumerist system that seems inescapable.

The urgency to face a global challenge like the climate crisis can often feel overwhelming, like nothing we can do as individuals will ever be enough. Yet even the biggest movements began with small, localized actions.

Action Areas

Learning Objectives

Cognitive learning objectives:

The learner understands how individual lifestyle choices influence social, economic and environmental development.

Socio-emotional learning objectives:

The learner is able to communicate the need for sustainable practices in production and consumption.
The learner is able to encourage others to engage in sustainable practices in consumption and production.
The learner is able to differentiate between needs and wants and to reflect on their own individual consumer behaviour in light of the needs of the natural world, other people, cultures and countries, and future generations.

Behavioural learning objectives:

The learner is able to promote sustainable production patterns.
The learner is able to take on critically on their role as an active stakeholder in the market.

Competences

Strategic competency
Critical thinking competency
Self-awareness competency

Instructions

Step 1) Do you use responsibly? (30 minutes)

The teacher introduces the concept of responsible consumption, for this the video "ODS12/ Producción y Consumo Responsable" can be used.

A first contact with consumption habits is opened through the following questions that the teacher presents individually to the students. Answers can be written on the board.

How many shirts do you have in your closet?
How many TVs are there in your house? More or less than the number of people who live there?
How many mobile devices, tablets, PCs are there in your house? More or less than the number of relatives living with you?
In your family, are there more, less or the same number of cars than people who can drive?
How many shirts do you think you really need? More or less than you have?

Based on the answers, the teacher moderates a collective reflection on the type of consumption we have.

Step 2) How what I use is made? (90 minutes)

The teacher asks the students to look at the labels on their shoes, t-shirt or other clothing to become aware of where and with what materials they are made. The second part of the reflection is based on the production process. To deepen the investigation, the students are divided into groups of 4/5 components. Each group discusses various products (for example, cell phones, computers, clothing) using the following questions, which appear in the document "Questions". Once all the groups have gathered all the information, they share what they have learnt about the products’ production process and its environmental impact.

Before ending the session and to introduce the next activity, we can propose to the students the video "This Spanish company turns ocean trash into beautiful clothing" as a sustainable alternative for consumption and the Fair Trade Web page to open a reflection about the values of sustainability. These questions can be used to facilitate brainstorming.

Is it a sustainable product?:

√ - Does it encourage fair social processes? For instance, decent working conditions?

√ - Does it contribute to solving an environmental problem? For instance, is it a local, recycled or ecological product?

√ - Does it consume less energy when you use it?

X - During the manufacturing process, does the material used produce environmental damage?

Step 3) Let's go shopping, yes but, sustainably! (one morning)

Once they have learnt what makes a product sustainable,, divide the participants into groups of 3-4 people. Each group is assigned an area of the city to investigate, and make a list of stores that sell or work with ecological and sustainable products. You can list the products by type (clothing, food, cosmetics, footwear, technology ...) and area.

- CALL TO ACTION 1

Organize a photography contest on Instagram with a hashtag that attracts the attention of young people in the city (for example: #SUSTAINABLEANDSTYLISH). The photos that young people should upload are a call for sustainable fashion, garment reuse practices or organic goods consumption. Each contest has a prize. Young people can create prizes themselves or they can choose to contact some stores from the list in the previous point to get them involved in the contest. Stores could offer some of their sustainable products as a contest prize as to make themselves known to a young audience and support them in their cause. To end the contest, an awards ceremony can be created, together with the students in charge, the participants, and all the commercial entities involved.

- CALL TO ACTION 2

Contact a fair trade store in the city or an association that works with fair trade products, after explaining the project you are participating in as a class. The students, with the help of the teacher, can organize shifts to be volunteers at some selling points. It is relevant to speak and to understand the requirements of the entity in order to be able to organize the volunteer shifts.

Requirements

Resources

Click each section below to see all resources available.

Links

This Spanish company turns ocean trash into beautiful clothing
https://www.weforum.org/videos/this-spanish-company-turns-ocean-trash-into-beautiful-clothing

Fair Trade Web
https://www.fairtrade.net/

Documents

Videos

ODS 12 | Producción y Consumo Responsables

This Spanish company turns ocean trash into beautiful clothing World Economic Forum

Notes for Educators

Estimated Total Duration: 2 hours in class + one morning outside + Call to Action

Step 2: it is recommended that teachers prepare in advance the articles and documents needed to carry out the activity in the classroom.

Step 3: If by time questions or internal management it is difficult to move around the city, you can propose students to do an online research of the stores in their city, or propose this activity as homework.

Call to Action 1: How to prepare the contest:

explain the rules of the contest on a flyer or video.
who can participate
how should the photos be
how many photos can be uploaded by each profiles,
what text to enter in the comments to explain the photo
start and end dates of the contest
who will select the winners and according to what criteria. It is recommended that the judges be the same students divided into groups.
before launching the contest, make sure you have the prizes.
allow at least a month for participants to upload photos.
it is important that the commercial entities visited or involved in the call to action are of interest to the students or the study cycle in question.

For example, if we deal with a cycle of computer science and technology studies, it is possible to contact stores that have recycled technological products, made with sustainable materials. If the study cycle is related to aesthetics, it is advisable to contact beauty salons that use ecological and sustainable products.