Eco Education fosters within young and old the appreciation, knowledge, values and skills necessary to inspire ecologically sound decisions and actions. We think environmental education must go beyond knowledge to the practice of skills in community problem-solving around environmental issues. In this section we examine five principals of eco education. Awareness: To help social groups and individuals acquire an awareness and sensitivity to the total environment and its allied problems. Knowledge: To help people gain a variety of experiences in and acquire a basic understanding of the environment and its associated problems. Attitudes: To help participants acquire a set of values and feelings of concern for the environment and motivation for actively participating in environmental improvement and protection. Skills: To help us all to acquire the skills for identifying and solving environmental problems. Participation: To facilitate motivated individuals with opportunities to be actively involved at all levels in working toward resolution of environmental problems. In this section we look at how eco education is addressing these principals.
Teaching Sustainability as Habit
Written by Elizabeth Bekolay Monday, 16 February 2009 12:56
At this moment, the majority of children in North America are in school. Each student is forming habits learned through example. These students are learning how to consume. Their parents begin the school year with the ‘back to school’ shopping ritual, each with a large list from the child’s school; 10 glue sticks (in 10 hard plastic shells), 10 Hillroy notebooks (lacking post-consumer recycled content), plastic markers, crayons, scissors, lunch kit (many vinyl or hard plastic), backpack, pens, pencils...and the list goes on.
