A quiet revolution is building momentum around the world as school pupils strike and march to try to get their elders to take serious measures to limit climate change. It started with one Swedish 15-year-old missing school to go and be a one-person picket line in front of a government ministry in September 2018. She … Continue reading “School Strike for the Planet”
Australian water activist Mina Guli has undertaken a gruelling physical challenge to draw attention to the growing global water crisis. From November till February she is attempting to run 100 marathons in 100 days. The United Nations estimates that there will be a 40% shortfall between demand and supply for water globally by 2030. Increasing … Continue reading “Running Dry”
The Ocean Cleanup non-profit organisation is hoping to remove vast quantities of plastic pollution from the oceans. Here are some articles and videos you could use to introduce your pupils to this topic. To set the scene, and with lower-level pupils, there is an article provided at A1+, A2 and B1 levels about Ocean Cleanup … Continue reading “Ocean Cleanup Webpicks”
Plastic pollution, particularly in the oceans, has been in the news a lot recently, with governments, institutions and big business calling and pledging to reduce the use of disposable, single-use plastics. But a young Dutchman has been fighting for eight years to tackle the other end of the problem: removing existing plastic from the sea. … Continue reading “Cleaning Plastic From the Oceans”
A British university made progress on two environmental problems with one successful campaign: it got rid of unsightly used chewing gum littered about the campus and significantly reduced use of unrecyclable disposable coffee cups. How? By getting students to put the chewing gum into special bins, then using the recycled gum to make free re-usable … Continue reading “Green Coffee”
South Africa’s second largest city came very close to running out of water in April. Only a massive effort by its citizens has delayed “Day Zero” for now. More and more urban areas face water shortages as a result of climate change. Three years of unusually low rainfall, combined with population increases, left Cape Town … Continue reading “Cape Town: The Day the Water Stops”
The theme of World Oceans Day, 8 June, is the problems caused in the oceans by plastic pollution, a subject which is very much in the news at the moment. There are some great videos and teaching resources on this topic. And more to do in Plastic-Free July. This wordless video, “How will you celebrate … Continue reading “Fight Plastic Pollution”
It’s Fairtrade Fortnight, la quinzaine du commerce équitable, in France from 12 to 27 May. Products with Fairtrade or Max Havelaar certification have been produced by workers who receive a fair price for their products. These are essentially basic food commodities: the top six are bananas, sugar, cocoa, coffee, other fresh fruit, and tea. However … Continue reading “Join the Fairtrade Movement”
Britain’s Prince Charles has long been recognised for his involvement in ecology. Now the Queen is turning to conservation, protecting forests all over the Commonwealth, from a tiny 2.5 hectare site in Antigua and Barbuda to the 6.4 million hectares of the Great Bear Rainforest in Canada. The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy originated in an idea … Continue reading “The Queen Goes Green”
The theme for this year’s Earth Day, 22 April, is “End Plastic Pollution”. This poster from the U.S. Department of State puts the focus on ecological problems caused by plastic waste in our oceans, and the dangers it presents for marine creatures. The poster is a great starting point for a class on plastic in … Continue reading “Free Ecology Poster”