25 ENSURE SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION PATTERNS
Sustainable consumption and production is all about promoting resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure and jobs that provide access to basic services, decent work and a better quality of life for everyone. When we consume and produce sustainably, we are trying to do more with less. It involves consumers, producers, policy-makers, researchers and media making informed choices along the course of the supply chain. Reducing our waste, establishing environmental protection policies, supporting the development of sustainable businesses and educating the public are all ways we can help improve our consumption and production.
Learning Objectives
- Learners will understand and be able to communicate how lifestyle choices influence social, economic and environmental development.
- Learners will understand the roles, rights, and duties of different actors in production and consumption.
- Learners will be able to communicate the need for sustainable strategies and practices regarding consumption and production.
- Learners will be able to plan, implement, and evaluate sustainable consumption-related activities.
- Learners will be able to challenge cultural and societal trends in consumption and production.
Essential Questions
Media (Identification of Value/Biases):
What is the role of the media in perpetuating overconsumption? How can we become more aware of, or change, this?
Environment
How can we influence our culture to value environmental sustainability?
Poverty, wealth and power
How does wealth and power effect relationships between producers and consumers?
Indigenous Peoples
What is being done to support remote Indigenous communities to combat inflated prices of consumer goods?
Oppression and genocide
How has consumption influenced oppression and marginalization?
Health and biotechnology
What is overconsumption doing to our health?
Gender politics
How is consumption a gendered issue?
Social justice and human rights
How are consumption patterns and social justice connected?
Peace and conflict
How does consumption of certain goods support ongoing conflict? (e.g.: Mining and resource extraction in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Overview of The Goal
This goal is about our stuff.
How is it made? How is it used? How does it impact people and the planet? If you make stuff, buy stuff, have stuff, use stuff or throw stuff away—you are a part of achieving this goal!
Did you know that the US represents 5% of the world population but consumes 29% of the world’s resources?
We all to deserve to live in a world where everyone’s needs are met without harming the planet. When we produce and consume just enough of what we need, we reduce the amount of waste contaminating our waterways and clogging up our green spaces. We can use ethical materials to package goods and power our buildings and industries using renewable energy sources.
Do you know where your shirt was made? Do you know who made it, how much they got paid or what it’s like in the factory where it was made? Do you know where the materials came from or how much energy it took to create and transport it? What will you do with it once you’re done using it?
On your own or with your students, see if you can find out the answers to some of these questions (you can do the same with other items: phones, shoes, pencils, etc). Do these answers change how you feel about your stuff? Check out this short video to get you started. (Note: there is an ad at the beginning of this video.)
Overview of this Goal
https://c15a759148e3465cc1e0-b5c37212e1d32204235caf5298e9144a.ssl.cf5.rackcdn.com/2017/03/12.pdf
Learning Activities
Websites for Research: Who is Impacted?
Check out the stories below of how people’s lives are impacted by this issue and how they’re making a difference. (Please review any resources before you share them with your students. Not all of these resources are appropriate for all young people, and some do contain ads at the beginning. You know your students best.)
Zabballeen: Trash Town. A whole community in Egypt that lives on rubbish.
Zero Waste Town: How this town produces no trash.
The Dark Side of Chocolate: Labor practices in the chocolate industry.
My Fair Trade Adventure: Meet cocoa farmers, find out how cocoa is produced and see the impact of Fairtrade.
Games
Games are a great way to build empathy and understand an issue from a different perspective. Check out the games below:
Phone Story is an educational game about the dark side of your favorite smart phone. Follow your phone’s journey around the world and fight the market forces in a spiral of planned obsolescence.
Garbage Dreams: Take on the role of the Zaballeen and build your recycling empire.
Eco: Build a civilization, then stop a meteor without polluting the world.
Websites for Research : Trash Challenge
What if you couldn’t throw anything away? How would that change your habits? How could that change the minds of others?
Lesson Plan: The Human Face Of Food Investigations in Social Science
Lesson Plan: Challenging Common Conceptions
Videos
Ted Talk: Wearing Nothing New by Jessi Arrington
Designer Jessi Arrington packed nothing for TEDActive but 7 pairs of undies, buying the rest of her clothes in thrift stores around LA. It’s a meditation on conscious consumption — wrapped in a rainbow of color and creativity.
https://www.ted.com/talks/jessi_arrington_wearing_nothing_new#t-5341
Ted Talk: The Global Food Waste Scandal by Tristram Stuart
Western countries throw out nearly half of their food, not because it’s inedible — but because it doesn’t look appealing. Tristram Stuart delves into the shocking data of wasted food, calling for a more responsible use of global resources.
https://www.ted.com/talks/tristram_stuart_the_global_food_waste_scandal
Ted Talk: What I Discovered in New York City Trash
New York City residents produce 11,000 tons of garbage every day. Every day! This astonishing statistic is just one of the reasons Robin Nagle started a research project with the city’s Department of Sanitation. She walked the routes, operated mechanical brooms, even drove a garbage truck herself–all so she could answer a simple-sounding but complicated question: who cleans up after us?
https://www.ted.com/talks/robin_nagle_what_i_discovered_in_new_york_city_trash
Video: UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Michelle Yeoh follows the sustainable fashion trail
UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Michelle Yeoh sets out to discover “what sustainable fashion could look like, without compromising the beauty of our clothes.” One answer: high-fashion produced with certified sustainable new generation forest-based fabrics. “Made in Forests” was produced by the UN Economic Commission for Europe/Food and Agriculture Organization’s (UNECE/FAO) Forestry and Timber Section, together with the United Nations Television in Geneva (part of the UN Information Service Geneva/DPI).
Video SDG Media Zone: Sustainable Fashion
21 Sep 2017 – Speakers: Mr. Cameron Saul, (Founder, Bottletop), Ms. Sara Kozlowski, (CDFA, Director of Education and Professional Development)
Moderator: Ms. Claire Baumann, (Senior Communications and Digital Marketing Professional, United Nations Foundation)
The SDG Media Zone aims to engage people all over the world in the important conversations happening during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly in New York from 18-22 September. Bringing together well-known personalities and Member States as well as content creators, influencers and media partners, the SDG Media Zone will provide a dynamic space to strengthen the commitment of the international community in support of the 2030 Agenda.
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2017/10/sdg-media-zone-sustainable-fashion/
Video: How we treat our waste affects our health, environment and even our economies
“Mottainai!” is a Japanese term for “what a waste!” Watch this UN Environment video to see how living more sustainably saves literally tonnes of waste.
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2017/02/mottainai/
Further Research and Activities
Assessment and Reflection
Reflection Journal
Quote: “Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.” Frank Zappa
- Describe the learning activities (articles, videos, etc.) and your experience – What did you do/hear/see?
- Interpret and evaluate the events from your perspective – What do I think about it now? How does it relate to other things that I know?
- Explain your experience; reveal your new insights, connections with other learning, your hypotheses, and your conclusions.
- Reflect on how this information will be useful to you – What questions do I have? Have I changed how I think about the situation? Where do I go from here?
- What did you particularly value and why?
- Is there anything you would do in the next unit? What have you learned? What will you do with these lessons?
Renewable Assignment Options
Reduce your waste. Packaging is a huge waste and takes up valuable real estate in our landfills for centuries. Bringing your own containers, reusing glass and plastic containers and sharing them with your community are great ways to go zero waste. Buy what you need and reduce your food waste of perishable foods. Bring your own shopping bag, take fewer napkins and donate what you don’t use.
Raise your voice. Businesses and governments have the power to make huge changes in sustainable policies, attitudes and behaviors. It’s our job to hold them to their promises and inform them of their harmful practices. Use your social media voice and the strength of your community network to fight for sustainable production.
Buy and eat locally. Invest in the livelihoods of those who surround you while cutting down on transportation and production emissions. Buying and eating locally produced food can help create a more sustainable production and consumption cycle, making our communities more sustainable while addressing economic and environmental concerns.
Start a fashion revolution. Bring attention to the unequal working conditions some factory workers face in the clothing industry. Join the movement to demand safe working conditions, more transparency from large factories and parent companies, safety and respect for workers and protection of our environment by asking “who made my clothes?” Host a movie night and screen The True Cost, hold a clothing swap, shop locally and have an inside out day to showcase your clothing tags. You can also host an Ethical Fashion Show in your community or at your school, showcasing fair trade items.
Learn more about Fairtrade’s work and bring the initiative to your community! Learn where the products you use have come from, what is involved in the process, and ensure that those workers and their communities are being protected socially, environmentally, and economically through the fair-trade approach. Host an officially designated Fairtrade event, become a Fairtrade Ambassador, or become a Fairtrade Campus, Town, School, Faith Group or Workplace. Find more information here or contact Fair Trade Manitoba for assistance.
Shop smart. Not only can you know if your food and clothing products are made ethically, you can also do the same for jewelry. Investigate the companies you buy from and understand where that gold, silver or diamond came from, how it was mined and how its production impacts people around the world.
Find the people in your community who are working to fight irresponsible consumption and production on the front lines. Have your students interview them (face-to-face or via Skype) about best practices in their local community, why consumption and production needs to be addressed, how it impacts their lives, and how the issue is being addressed. These conversations can help you and your students understand how to take action in responsible and effective ways. Here are some places you might be able to find local experts in your community:
- Sanitation department (garbage haulers!)
- Thrift stores and donation centers
- Manufacturing plants
- Grocery stores and restaurants (ask about food waste!)
Instead of buying gifts for people, why not make them? (Unfortunately, a lot of these sites have a ton of ads. But the ideas are really good!)
November 24: Buy Nothing Day
Forgotten Toys Compendium. (Check out our New Global Citizen design challenge!)
Upcycle old clothes for new fashions.
Chip bag/candy wrapper purse.
Between heating our homes and traveling to see family, we’re using a lot of energy. How can we use less?
Plan your travel with the planet in mind.
How far do the ingredients for your holiday meal have to travel to get to your table? How much energy did it take to grow them? Think about your favorite foods that you eat around the holidays and learn about how they’re grown, raised, and transported.
Reducing food waste during holiday meals.
