Waste & Consumption

Waste & Consumption

5 Nov 2023
Environmental Games

Environmental Games

How to bring the fun of outdoor learning to your classroom

5 Nov 2023
Why Care about Food Waste?

Why Care about Food Waste?

Engaging middle school students on a pivotal issue

4 Nov 2023
Composting Experiment

Composting Experiment

Observing how different organic materials and plastic react to the composting process

29 Mar 2021
Water Calculator Tool

Water Calculator Tool

Two quick lesson plans on ways to control your water consumption

22 Apr 2020
Real Change from Students

Real Change from Students

Promoting pro-environmental behaviors using Community-based Social Marketing

28 Jul 2019
From Garbage to Green

From Garbage to Green

Creating a student-led recycling club to develop a school-wide waste-reduction plan

28 Jul 2019
We Don’t Live in a Vacuum

We Don’t Live in a Vacuum

Bringing conservation awareness to young children

10 Oct 2018
Thinking Outside the Bin

Thinking Outside the Bin

Upcycling and recycling: life skills for students with intellectual disabilities

20 Jan 2017
Citizenship-building via  Marine Debris Surveys

Citizenship-building via Marine Debris Surveys

Empowering urban teens to become environmental stewards through socio-ecological mapping and data collection

19 Sep 2016
Ecojustice Education through Pictures

Ecojustice Education through Pictures

A visual approach for exploring environmental justice in education

28 Apr 2016
Undercover Litter Picker

Undercover Litter Picker

Transitioning from anthropocentrism to Earth-centrism by way of a humorous photo contest

28 Apr 2016
Integrated, Social Justice Learning for Those At-Risk

Integrated, Social Justice Learning for Those At-Risk

An integrated unit on marine debris makes learning relevant and real for 12-18 year-olds

10 Sep 2015
Take the Green Challenge

Take the Green Challenge

Green Challenges provide easy access points for incorporating environmental themes into school culture, and help green schools get back to the basics

20 Feb 2015
Returning to the Earth

Returning to the Earth

Learning about decomposition both on the schoolyard and inside the classroom

13 Nov 2014
Understanding Micro Particles in the Ocean

Understanding Micro Particles in the Ocean

A fun classroom activity that uses beach transects to help middle schoolers understand the impact of marine debris

13 Nov 2014
Fracking: Unlocking the Great Debate

Fracking: Unlocking the Great Debate

The controversy behind hydraulic fracturing provides fuel for high school students to become critical thinkers

19 Jun 2014
The Human Body as Recycling Machine

The Human Body as Recycling Machine

Introducing urine nutrient recovery to high school science students from a multidisciplinary perspective

7 Jan 2014
Just Add Water

Just Add Water

How the student-driven Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal Program is changing the way we deal with leftover meds

7 Jan 2014
Turning Rotten into Right: A Kindergarten Study of Decomposition

Turning Rotten into Right: A Kindergarten Study of Decomposition

How a year-long study of decomposition turned a class of Kindergarten students into unlikely environmental stewards.

31 Jul 2013
Beyond Eco-Footprints: Using the STEM Process

Beyond Eco-Footprints: Using the STEM Process

Getting K-12 students involved in all stages of the greening process in their schools

27 Apr 2013
Stop the E-Waste Crisis: Engaging the Technological Generation

Stop the E-Waste Crisis: Engaging the Technological Generation

An introduction to the topic of electronic waste, created by technological obsolescence. A condensed 90-minute lesson plan on e-waste for grades 7 - 12 uses multiple media to analyze the e-waste crisis from the perspectives of environmental justice, toxicology, civic engagement and ‘green’ chemistry.

26 Apr 2013
The Mathematics of Trash

The Mathematics of Trash

Multiplication and graphing exercises for upper elementary students which demonstrate the magnitude of waste produced by modern society.

26 Apr 2013
Green Schools Programs

Green Schools Programs

An overview of the green schools movement in North America and worldwide, including examples of successful green schools programs and their environmental and academic benefits. Includes recommendations for schools interested in implementing such programs.

26 Apr 2013
A Plastic Bottle Greenhouse

A Plastic Bottle Greenhouse

A middle school in rural India removes water bottle litter from a local forest picnic site, and uses the discarded bottles to construct a greenhouse. Saplings are grown in the greenhouse to help regenerate the same forest from which the plastic bottles came.

25 Apr 2013
Evaluating & Promoting Eco-Products

Evaluating & Promoting Eco-Products

Activities for middle school students which promote student and community awareness about the ethics of consumer products

25 Apr 2013
Parties, Praise, and Plastic Bottles

Parties, Praise, and Plastic Bottles

Three projects to help elementary schools up their green factor – creating a reusable classroom party box, celebrating environmental ‘idols’ in the school and community, and setting environmental world records.

6 Apr 2013
Beyond our Beaches: Ocean Trash

Beyond our Beaches: Ocean Trash

What research about long-term plastic marine debris is telling us, and how young people can respond

5 Apr 2013
The Pet Waste Project

The Pet Waste Project

Integrate science and language arts in a grade 5 study of local problems with storm water run-off and water quality due to pet waste.

5 Apr 2013
Zero Waste for Schools

Zero Waste for Schools

A comprehensive guide to developing a realistic waste reduction program in your school.

5 Apr 2013
Collecting Pop Can Tabs for Charity

Collecting Pop Can Tabs for Charity

Are these fundraising programs worth the effort, or do they do more harm than good?

31 Mar 2013
Designing a Sustainable Industrial Park

Designing a Sustainable Industrial Park

This step-by-step exercise asks students to plan a “green” industrial park that generates its own energy, conserves and reuses materials, and minimizes waste. The exercise is adaptable for use with students from elementary grades through high school.

31 Mar 2013
Leaving ‘Leave No Trace’ Behind: Towards a Holistic Land Use Ethic

Leaving ‘Leave No Trace’ Behind: Towards a Holistic Land Use Ethic

The authors question the notion that it is possible to live in the natural world without leaving a trace. They suggest we adopt Conscious Impact Living, a more holistic land use ethic that supports a stronger sense of connection with the natural world by recognizing that because humans live within nature, they will always have an impact on it.