How many of the environmental education initiatives that you know of were started by teachers, parents, or non-profit organizations? That’s typical: from artistic approaches to
rainwater harvesting to
solar boat building, most efforts at teaching kids about environmental issues start with adults. But students often come up with their own programs, too, and the
President’s Environmental Youth Awards aims to highlight those efforts that start with schoolkids.
Started in 1971 by the EPA, this awards program “…recognizes young people across America for projects which demonstrate their commitment to the environment.” Awards are given for one project in each of the EPA’s ten regions. After 38 years, the winning projects have run the gamut — everything from peer environmental education to recycling efforts to wetlands restoration. Recent winners have included
- The Green Books Project in Lewisville, NC: Student Cory Adkins saw textbooks being thrown away at his school, and started his program to sell these books… and use the funds generated to support recycling in his community.
By Lucille Chi •
November 3, 2009
The International Ecotourism Society is offering a
Surperb Safari Experience as an auction to raise funds for global environmental awareness. The Safari location is at
Ol Seki Mara Camp.
Safari Details: Located in the heart of Eastern Koiyaki, Kenya, Ol Seki Mara Camp offers luxury “Nina” tents with 270 degree panoramic views of the famous Maasai Mara.
Magnificent Wildlife: Eastern Koiyaki, provides an opportunity to enjoy wildlife viewing in a pristine oasis nestled amongst Cordia and Acacia trees attracting an abundance of wildlife and birds.
Your Dream Vacation: Elegant candle lit dinners, romantic dining for honeymooners, a resident masseuse – a delight for all senses!
What are Ol Seki Mara Camp’s specific sustainability Practices?
By Zachary Shahan •
July 21, 2009
In a previous post, I discussed the great importance of educating our children about the environment and environmental ethics. A new facility in Southern California will help many with this process when it opens its doors on July 28th. The Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center is a $30 million outdoor learning center which was funded by local businesses and private donors and has taken twelve years to create. The center is an ideal facility for the type of environmental education that gives hands-on experience with the natural world. The facility looks to combine intellectual knowledge with experience to leave a lasting memory of awe, respect, and understanding for the natural world.
This 21-acre site includes an aquatic center, a nature center, a 2-acre rope COPE course, and three themed camps – an Astronomy camp, Ranching camp and Mining camp.
The Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center, a non-profit organization owned by the Orange County Council Boy Scouts of America, is not only championing environmental education for the rich, though. It is especially geared towards providing an affordable place for schools and youth organizations. Thus, it effectively combines environmental goals with equity goals, a key of sustainability in practice.
By Zachary Shahan •
July 18, 2009
We are influenced throughout our life by the company we keep, the groups and issues we engage in, and the people we respect and learn from. But is there anything that compares to what we learn from our parents as children?
We can see the way children imitate their parents, even as adults. Children learn habits (small and large ones), beliefs, likes and dislikes, interests, manners, and even deeply engrained ethics from their parents. It may seem superficial at times, but when you get to know someone closely, and their family, you can get to see how deep what they learned actually goes.
We put a lot into the future of our children. We want them to have a good education, good friends, want them to be polite and respectful. We hope they will learn what’s important in life and what’s not as important, and we do our best to help them learn this.
All of this being said, what do we do to educate them about the environment? We do some things on a superficial level — we might recycle and tell them how to recycle and what recycling is; we might be conservative in the use of lights and water and such resources. We give some passing mention of the importance of the environment. But is this a true environmental ethic and are we doing what we should in this field?
By Jennifer Lance •
March 3, 2009
Editor’s note: The following is a guest post by Tim Magner, an environmental educator and children’s book author. For more resources on Growing Green Minds, visit Green Sugar Press.
What are your best memories from childhood? Catching fireflys? Building forts? Making mudpies? Climbing trees?
I’ve spent a lot of time with kids and there’s one thing I know makes sense: Letting kids be kids. They’re curious. They need time to imagine and play and explore. They want to be inspired and nature does the trick.
By Sonya •
January 18, 2009
Are you using the greenest products to clean your home?
“It is often difficult to know which cleaning product is “greenest” but there are a few key words and phrases to look for which will help you identify those products with reduced adverse environmental and health effects, “says Lindsay Luhnau, environmental educator.
She’s authored the Green Cleaning Guide For Businesses and Individuals, one in the Clean Calgary Association GUIDE Series.
What should you look for in a green cleaning product? Luhnau recommends looking for the following words and phrases on green cleaning products:
By Jennifer Lance •
January 5, 2009
Every so often, I like to make a philanthropic donation to an environmental group on behalf of the writers and readers of Eco Child’s Play. This month, I have selected TreePeople for our small donation.
TreePeople is a nonprofit organization that has been serving the Los Angeles area for over three decades. Simply put, our work is about helping nature heal our cities. We offer sustainable solutions to urban ecosystem problems, focusing on three areas:
1. Training and supporting communities to plant and care for trees
2. Educating school children and adults about the environment
3. Working with government agencies on critical water issues
By Jamie Ervin •
December 10, 2008
I’ve been attacked by naysayers who claim one cannot be an environmentalist and consume meat. I beg to differ, but that’s my opinion.
For years I was a happy vegetarian. My husband is a devoted carnivore. We have five children and my vegetarianism fell to the wayside. I’m not a short order cook, my husband DEMANDS meat (and luckily fish qualifies as meat in his world) in his dinner and chances are the kids and I are eating the same meal. That’s a little thing called life.
Does this mean we are not green?
By Amy Jussel •
September 24, 2008
Teachers and parents donning polar bear heads is inherently fun and effective in getting the attention of the K-8 crowd. If you can snag just ONE assembly hour to kick off this grassroots green program for climate change, KIDS can take it from there, bringing home Cool the Earth influences for micro-change into every household.
Social change agents have learned the hard way that adapting kid-friendly programs into ‘core curriculum’ is a time sink, whereas schools embrace participation as ‘enrichment,’ since it’s no hassle for teachers, ‘apolitical,’ and take place in an informal, volunteer environment with programs that are ready to run.
Good news for Chicago middle school and high school teachers who want to teach their students about the environment and earn a bit of extra cash: the city has extended its deadline for applications to its 2008-2009 Chicago Conservation Corps (C3) Student Club.
Teachers now have until Friday, Sept. 19, to apply for the C3 Student Club program.
