Consumption & Waste

“We did not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” - Native American Proverb

Our Spring Exchange shifts our focus from our interconnectedness as global citizens to look at our relationship with the environment. We will examine the impact that our consumption has on the Earth and ask students to think beyond recycling, think more critically about their choices of consumption, and work toward sustainable choices and solutions shared cross-culturally.

Objectives:

• Deepen consciousness on where products come from, where they go when we have finished with them, and the environmental impact of these choices.

• Give a comparative context of how culture, geography and climate influence production and waste disposal.

• Increase critical thinking across disciplines seen through lens of environment, culture, health, government, and ethics.

• Collaborate cross-culturally in sharing solutions to environmental challenges.

• Utilize creativity in the communication of messages for Earth stewardship.

Essential Questions

What do we consume and where does it come from in the natural world?

What resources are used in the production of items? How are they made, and what are the conditions in which they are made? How do these items get to us?

Where does our waste go? When you throw something away, where is away?

How can we minimize the amount of waste that we create?

What types of things can be recycled? What are the benefits of recycling? What are some problems associated with recycling? What is up-cycling?

Resources:

Earth Overshoot Day

https://www.overshootday.org/about-earth-overshoot-day/

Plastic or Planet- National Geographic June 2018 Issue

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/planetorplastic/

Plastics in the Ocean

https://storyofstuff.org/blog/confetti-plastic-ocean/