84. Teaching Sustainability & Eco-friendly Values

Teaching ‘sustainability’ can be a challenging task. The song Green Green Green cuts through to some of the core values and notions to do with this important subject. It is a simple and catchy song that can help you to engender earth-friendly values whilst steering clear of current corporate, political or media bias.

The song begins:

Keep your life simple, keep it clean

Find the ways to go Green Green Green

There’s such a wealth of wisdom to be gleaned from the idea of ‘simple and clean’; from the way natural systems work to true human principles of conservation. In this context, the word “simple” means – fundamental, sound, sincere, core, true…

There’s the bumper sticker saying: “The best things in life are not things!”

What are the best ‘things’ in life? Ask your children before and then after you spend time in this rich subject. You might find their answers shifting from ‘things’ literally, to more enduring qualities and values like love, family, safety, respect, peace, friendship, freedom, human rights… This is the first keyway to the idea of sustainability.

Why? Well, if a person has a fundamental deep respect for life, they won’t want to see the earth which supports life trashed! It is a simple argument.

The proposition of living ‘simple and clean’ extends to:

Energy generation and usage

Natural resource management

Health and Nutrition

Food production and distribution

Transportation

Communication

Consumerism

Waste

…………….just for starters.

The next line in the song goes:

Taking care of the Earth is cool

That’s why we go to Mother Nature’s School

The whole idea of “waste” is a by-product of industrialization. There is no “waste” in natural systems, not really. One “system’s” trash is another “system’s” treasure! Just look at any eco-system, or the Laws of Physics or the multiple systems of the human body. Even our body waste was good compost once upon a time.

Teaching ‘sustainability and eco-friendly values’ encompasses earth science, biology, chemistry, social studies, world and local history, economics, ethics, environmental justice, human rights, the health sciences, agriculture, eco-diversity and more!

~PAZ

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You can find the song Green Green Green and other Eco Friendly songs here