Is there a solution?

In reflection, on my journey so far I have found a LOT of information. My research has lead me to all kinds of avenues of sustainability issues that are associated with Consumer Culture. Things like mass-production, waste and e-waste, finite or depleting natural resources, social impacts, historical information and factors, pressures from society, big business, just to name a few. What I have learned to be the biggest message and the one that underpins all of these issues, is that currently, our lifestyles are not sustainable. Even those of us who are examples, who try their best to live sustainably, are using more of the earth’s natural resources than is considered sustainable. So what does this mean? To me, the best thing we can do is a collective effort enlightened and educate ourselves and those around us, to raise awareness about the issues of environmental sustainability, and to be active memebers of society, instigating social and environmental change.

As teachers, we are responsible for developing agency within our students. The Melbourne Declaration states it’s second goal to be creating “active and informed citizens” (pg. 9), who understand the world and act with responsibility within and beyond their community. I am role-modelling this for my future students. By creating a blog, I am simultaneously researching and (trying to) create awareness beyond my immediate community. However, these things take time. 4 weeks after starting this blog, I have 12 followers (Hello!), however the more I post and create awareness, by promoting it through social media, the more followers/readers.

What I do recognise, critically evaluating my work, is that while I have researched the effects of consumer culture, what I have neglected so far is a solution. Given the enormity of the issues associated with consumer culture, one blanket solution is not feasible. What is apparent is that education, as always is key. Quality historiography and citizenship education as well as science education is, after all, educating future generations about the choices their ancestors made and the impacts of those choice. But how do we educate our community? How do we raise awareness without being ostracised by that community. There are stigmas attached to “greeny” solutions and there must be contemporary solutions to these problems without asking people to retreat to cave-man lifestyles. Investigation into these will form the next few posts. Stay tuned…

Reference:

Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (2008). The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goal for Young Australians. Retrieved fromhttp://www.mceecdya.edu.au/verve/_resources/national_declaration_on_the_educational_goals_for_young_australians.pdf

The Checkout

The Checkout After reflecting with friends on our views on consumerism, this incredibly witty satirical consumer affairs series was brought to my attention. Presented by some of Australia’s most notorious comedic investigative journalists, the series sheds light on issues within our consumer culture, how marketing, statistics and language is used to persuade us to buy. Such a show, some even appropriate to air with upper primary students, is integral to creating awareness about a culture that underpins our society, and one where we are being positioned into naivety. The most recent episode I watched investigated the different formulas of Nurofen and whether “targeted pain relief”, and different formulas for different pains was something that could be scientifically plausible; it’s not. Spoiler alert, the Nurofen marketing team has created a pink packet for “period pain” and a red packet for “back pain”, but within those capsules the formula is identical.

However this wasn’t the most interesting aspect for me, it was that since Nurofen is now widely available in supermarkets instead of having to be prescribed or as an over-the-counter medication, pharmaceutical information is not available to those who were buying the pain relief. Therefore it was up to us, the customer, to use our discretion as health care dummies to make choices. So where before, a chemist would recommend the generic brand and allowing us to choose on the basis of price, now we are at the mercy of the marketing teams of the drug companies, being positioned to pay twice as much for the same chemistry. This is modern consumer culture: our naivety and laziness is being capitalised on by big business, and then being used against us to convince us to buy more.

But, as always, education could provide the key to overcoming such a poisonous culture. By educating ourselves and our students, we can understand our behaviours and where they stem from, and create awareness to make better choices about where and how we buy. That’s why these TV shows are so important because, without creating a “we’re all doomed” feel, they enlighten us.

Reference:

The Checkout (2013) Buy Now Pay Forever (video). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfNqBP900L8

The social effects of unsustainable production

In the Story of Stuff video, when considering buying a $5 radio, Leonard poses a question: Who pays for this?

I just found this website, which is run by young people, for young people to instigate social change. Providing students, especially years 3 to 6+ with a website like this could be a valuable starting point for investigating social and sustainability issues, and is therefore a worthy resource.

I came across the following, sourced from Green America, Vegan Peace and Feminist Majority Foundation – which I found to be credible sources, however all statistics and facts of this manner should be critically evaluated (another teaching point!)

In developing countries, an estimated 250 million children ages 5 to 14 are forced to work

A study showed that doubling the salary of sweatshop workers would only increase the consumer cost of an item by 1.8%, while consumers would be willing to pay 15% more to know a product did not come from a sweatshop

According to the National Labor Committee, women sewing NBA jerseys make 24 cents per garment that will eventually sell for $140

In 2000, more than 11,000 sweatshops in the U.S. violated the minimum wage and overtime laws, while over 16,000 had broken health and safety laws

… so people pay too.

Reference:

Do Something (2014) 11 Facts about Sweatshops. Retrieved from https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-sweatshops

What does the curriculum say about sustainability?

Sustainability in education falls under the cross-curriculum priorities in AusVELS. Aligning with the general crux of the curriculum, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority suggests that students develop the knowledge and skills to act sustainably for the future. “Education for sustainability develops the knowledge, skills, values and world views necessary for people to act in ways that contribute to more sustainable patterns of living” (para. 2). Sustainability Education is further broken down into Organising Ideas and when considering teaching about the effects of consumerism, one could reflexively reflect on or explicitly outline the effect, justifiable under: Sustainable patterns of living rely on the interdependence of healthy social, economic and ecological systems (OI.3). It could also become part of an investigation into our responsibilities as citizens in a global community (Civics and Citizenship). The Sustainability Curriculum Framework suggests years 3 to 6 should investigate an issue of sustainability, researching, planning and implementing action, the project I have undertaken here.

In reflection on the sustainability aspects of Australian curricula, and on my research so far, what is becoming clear to me is that consumer culture and waste is a vast issue, with problems that span across many areas: waste management, sustainable production, sustainable extraction and material sourcing, finite resources, e-waste, historical factors, social or societal impacts, cultural changes, etc. Because the issue is so vast, perhaps it would be more meaningful, rigorous, and produce a richer outcome if students developed research on a more targeted issue. Perhaps if proposing this investigation to my class, I would show them my own investigation, introducing them to a broad theme, and modelling those integral investigative behaviours, then allow them to choose part of the investigation to collaborate with me on thus providing a scaffolding for further student investigation.

References:

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (2012) Sustainability. Retrieved from http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/CrossCurriculumPriorities/Sustainability

Australian Government: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (2010) Sustainability Curriculum Framework. Retrieved from http://leo.acu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/821796/mod_resource/content/1/curriculum-framework.pdf

Tips for Reducing Waste at School

Sourced from StopWaste.org, here is a list of actions to begin to reduce waste in schools. Being explicit about why we are reducing waste is an important concept for students to understand in order to inform sustainable lifestyle practices and bahaviours, therefore it may be more meaningful if these concepts are explored and discussed or even developed by the students. That said, its a good starting point to get teachers ideas flowing. 

 

Tips for Reducing Waste at School

What teachers and students can do to practice waste reduction in the classroom:

 REDUCE 

• Use an overhead projector or blackboard to reduce the amount of photocopied information distributed in class.
• Encourage parents and students to pack a waste-free lunch for field trips www.wastefreelunches.org
• Buy classroom materials that are durable and if possible, include recycled content.
• Make double-sided copies when possible.
• Use paper towels only as needed, better yet replace them with sponges, old socks or other scrap material.

 REUSE

• Encourage students to write on both sides of a piece of paper before recycling it.
• Designate a scrap material box in the classroom for paper, fabric, and other objects that can be reused for classroom projects.
• Take a trip to the school library to visit a site dedicated to reuse.
• Ask students to bring 3-ring binders to class instead of spiral notebooks. Binders can be reused and paper can be easily removed for recycling.
• At the end of the school year, collect unwanted school supplies such as pencils and notebooks that can be used during the next school year.
• Encourage students to collect supplies for reuse art projects such as egg cartons, film canisters, magazines, milk cartons, paper grocery bags and plastic lids.

RECYCLE

• Establish a recycling bin in your classroom.
• Have students separate materials for recycling.
• Ask students to remove spiral bindings from notebooks before recycling them.
• Plan a lesson about paper recycling and make recycled paper…
• Place recycling and garbage bins in teacher’s lunchroom to collect materials for recycling.
• Visit a local Recycling Facility or Transfer Station to learn more about how recyclables are sorted and processed before remanufacture.
• Collect and sell classroom recyclables as part of a school-wide recycling contest. The funds can be donated to a local charity or used for classroom supplies, pizza party, etc.

ROT (Compost)

• Start composting food waste in the classroom with a worm bin. Ask students to collect fruit and vegetable scraps from school lunches. Place a collection bin in the teacher’s lunchroom for coffee grinds and other food waste. Use the finished compost on schoolyard plantings.
• When installing a school garden, choose plants appropriate for the local conditions. This will reduce the generation of green waste, use of water, fertilizers, and pesticides.