Unleashing the Creativity of Teachers to Reduce Carbon Footprint

Not just a wake-up call but an assertion that education is key to climate change

Climate change is a reinforced reality. It is that tragic truth that needs dire attention on a mass scale by not just governments, politicians or bureaucrats, but by every single citizen. As soon as possible. Immediately! Movements, both domestic and international, have created a huge uproar as well as widespread attention. But at the end of the day, ask your friend or family member what their contribution to reducing climate change is (You could also pose this question to yourself!), and the most common response would be — Using different coloured bags for garbage disposal.

Would this huge global concern end with only this practice? Of course, I don’t intend to trivialise the use of coloured bags at the grassroots level. The purpose of my question is — Is this all? Is climate change an immediate action item only for those smoky industries and glass buildings. Is it only about keeping ourselves informed of our government’s response in international climate sessions? Is climate change an issue only worth being pensive about? In your head, you know that the answer is a ‘no’. Then why the collective pondering? It is time for action. RIGHT NOW. And, perhaps, the first hurdle that all of us could cross is ignorance.

Educationists could usher positive steps in the direction of reducing carbon footprint. The Earth has a promising future only if we collectively take a responsible step. Every day, every hour, every minute of our life.

But first, a ready reckoner for the less informed

Ask yourself if you really understand the relationship between carbon footprint and climate change. If you don’t then it makes sense to read through this section and apprise yourself. If you fall on the other side of the fence then congrats! Feel free to skip this part and move to the next segment. But a little knowledge refresher would harm no one. :)

What is a carbon footprint? The total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that any entity — a person, an organisation, an event or a product — has produced. Greenhouse gases are the gases in the atmosphere that produce the greenhouse effect. These gases contribute to global warming and climate change. Are greenhouse gases only due to human activities? The U.S. Energy Information Administration states that greenhouse gases keep heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. These gases occur naturally, but human activity contributes immensely to greenhouse gas emissions. Your carbon footprint — or your impact on the environment — measures the greenhouse gases that you are responsible for creating through daily activities such as using electricity or driving a car. Is an individual carbon footprint a reflection of one’s lifestyle? Yes! It measures the environmental impact your lifestyle has. For example, if you drive to work every day your carbon footprint may be higher than the one who works from home throughout the week. How is carbon footprint calculated? Sum up the emissions from all your activities, right from what you eat to how much TV you watch. Carbon footprint is measured in CO2e — carbon dioxide equivalent. In other words, you are taking any quantity or type of greenhouse gas and expressing it in the amount of CO2 that would have the equivalent impact on climate. How can you know your carbon footprint? You could refer to online calculators to figure out your carbon footprint. Try the calculator by The Nature Conservancy or the US Environmental Protection Agency. You could even download the Cool The Globe app created by Prachi Shevgaonkar from Pune.

“Why study for a future that is being taken away from us?” - Greta Thunberg

Empowering the students of 2022 or the leaders of 2052?

Circa December 2018. Greta Thunberg stunned the Conference of the Parties (COP) Climate Conference in Poland with her profound statements to the UN: “You say you love your children above all else, and yet, you’re stealing their future in front of their very eyes.”

It is impressive to see a teenager then have such clarity and vocalise the truth. On the other hand, it is a matter of significant challenge for an educationist to convince bright minds like hers that all is not lost yet. But outspoken souls like hers are not willing to hear merely words of assurance. They have clearly pointed out that our posterity can only be fit to live in the world of tomorrow if we understand the criticality of minimising our carbon footprint today. This is the only way forward.

Since it is we humans who have been responsible for the emission of most greenhouse gases and their adverse effect on the environment, we should be the ones who strive to effectively reduce, if not eliminate, their carbon footprint from the planet. The need of the hour is to actively reduce and eventually work towards eliminating carbon footprint as soon as possible to preserve the sanctity of our environment and our planet.

Greta and her friends are students today. Thirty years later, they could be world leaders. They are looking up to their adults today to address this environmental crisis. Who could be better able to mould young minds like theirs with the flight of knowledge, armoury of commitment and spark of creativity than educationists?

Education is key to addressing climate change

Education is a critical agent in addressing the concern of climate change.

A research article on ‘The role of climate change education on individual lifetime carbon emissions’ (published in PLOS One, a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science) reveals that if only 16 percent of high school students in high- and middle-income countries were to receive climate change education, we could see a nearly 19 gigaton reduction of carbon dioxide by 2050.

Education could help students develop a strong personal connection to climate solutions, as well as a sense of personal agency and empowerment. Teachers can teach students the impact of global warming and ways to adapt to climate change. This knowledge would kindle the light in the air of gloom and mindless fear. The outcome would be a favourable impact on students’ daily behaviours that could reduce their overall lifetime carbon footprint. Leveraging the power of education could be equally or potentially more powerful than solely increasing investments in activities that generate a lesser carbon footprint. And where else could the beginning be made than at school?

Schools and colleges must realign their way of functioning to reduce carbon footprint, right at the source. But how? Here are seven ways in which teachers could come to the forefront to tackle the concern and exemplify hope and commitment to young minds.

Teachers know it all; they can do it all

1] Develop a culture of sustainability

Teachers must enquire and discuss what climate action means to their school or college. This charter of awareness must be circulated across all departments — teaching and non-teaching — to get the fundamentals in place. For example, teachers could encourage students to brainstorm in class or outside the school with parents or friends or contacts so that students gain a wider perspective on sustainability. This source of red-hot data would give an overview of where on the scale of sustainability does every stakeholder stand. This exercise would be the starting point of reducing the carbon footprint on the campus, as well as lighting the torch for expansive activities outside the campus.

2] Craft the mission and vision for a sustainable school culture

It all begins with writing down. After every stakeholder agrees to the list of activities that spike up the carbon footprint, teachers will structure an agenda to attain a vision. This vision will be black in white, specifying the goal in the SMART format (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely). Consequently, teachers will frame the mission to achieve this vision. This exercise is the cornerstone of credibility and seriousness of the project. It is herein that the students will seriously kickstart the project of reducing the carbon footprint. This is the beginning of undertaking a goal-based project in the real world.

3] Involve the entire school community

Teachers will involve every stakeholder in this cause. For instance, teachers could begin with mentoring sessions, making students and non-teaching staff understand how to take part in climate action. Principals and administrators would champion the teachers’ vision and values for climate action. Additionally, teachers could plan and lead climate action projects at intra-school and inter-school levels.

4] Run an eco-friendlier school system

This would mean:

• Conducting sessions and lessons on developing knowledge about climate change.
• Cultivating skills to investigate possibilities for action.
• Urging every stakeholder in school to take part in low carbon footprint initiatives.
• Reinforcing expectations for low carbon footprint-friendly behaviour, such as turning off the computer when not in use.
• Suggesting changes in the school campus to reduce the school’s ecological footprint.
• Teaching non-teaching staff and students to sort waste properly.
• Making energy-saving changes to the school’s heating, cooling and lighting systems.
• Educating on the plantation of trees in the school garden.
• Conducting tree-plantation drives and inviting admirable personalities to be part of the initiative for larger media traction and inspiration within the student fraternity.
• Adopting and promoting sustainable ways of working. For example, reducing prints, using minimal paper, printing on both sides of the paper, using computers with higher efficiency and less energy consumption etc.
• Establishing a trust to collect donations to support the school’s low carbon footprint projects.
• Inviting experts to educate the students on mitigating climate concerns.
• Making compost trash can for non-animal-based organic matter. This compost can be put to good use in the school garden.
• Involving students in workshops where they participate in environmentally friendly projects within the school. They can learn how to monitor and report energy consumption while setting targets towards reducing the rate of energy consumption in school.
• Recycle more. Recycling is a great way to reduce the carbon footprint in schools. Teachers could demonstrate how to separate wastes and identify items for recycling. Teachers could make this entire activity interesting and engaging by video-documenting the entire process and publishing it in the school archives or on the school’s social media pages.
• Conducting climate action campaigns in every quarter of the academic year, involving students. Teachers could choose a theme and urge and encourage students to present novel ideas to mitigate the concern.
• Helping students to actively design and lead projects aimed at curbing and/ or adapting to climate change. For example, students could map and monitor local environmental challenges and design a sustainability plan that addresses the concern. This opportunity could encourage the students to tap into their entrepreneurial temperament to aid climate action.

5] Action, reflect, improve. Repeat.

Teachers will form an eco-action team that will review the school’s efforts to reduce the carbon footprint on a daily level. This team will then map the results against the planned objectives to understand any gaps and close them with concrete and constructive feedback. This eco-action team would be committed to ensuring continual progress through meticulous planning, action and reflection. Teachers could have a certain percentage of this team’s membership comprising students so that students learn to introspect and improve from an early age.

6] Involve the community

Teachers will encourage students to work holistically with members of society — from all walks of life — to get a comprehensive understanding of climate action. They could introduce students to the rural folk (or the adivasis) who are climate action heroes in their region. Getting the students to engage with these communities at the front line could lend a unique perspective to their efforts. This interface will present students with interesting opportunities to network with like-minded individuals, organisations and communities, and give wider exposure to the school sustainability culture efforts.

7] Inspire students to build partnerships and make new connections

Teachers will encourage students to reach out to and connect with other schools and environmental organisations, locally, domestically and internationally to learn and work together. This feeling of bonhomie will present students with novel challenges and opportunities, and put their learning on an elevated pedestal. These experiences will help inculcate creative, critical and future thinking skills in students. Concomitantly, it will satiate their yearning to make real positive progress on a bigger plane in lowering carbon footprint. Moreover, they will represent themselves as ambassadors of climate control and represent their school as a model of climate action.

The future is climate change. In the classroom.

Unleashing the creativity of teachers to help students combat climate change through community-based climate action projects — This is what success probably looks like. Such a teacher-led initiative would go a long way in improving the overall quality of education for the 21st century. After all, the real purpose of education is to produce active, engaged citizens, and make our world a better, fairer, more sustainable place to live in.

Teacher intervention is the need of the hour. When done at a scale across the millions of school districts globally, we could be well on our way to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and to ensuring the quality of life for future generations on this planet. With great responsibility comes great power to yield a change more massive than any thought in the world. And, today, perhaps no long-term concern could be as massive as lowering the carbon footprint. The survival of the human race rests upon this outcome; it rests upon the teachers.

Berges Santok loves telling stories and works as a content writer on a freelance basis. He aspires to make movies someday.