Essay by Eric Worrall
Earth Day Director of Education and former Montgomery County Public Schools Education Head Bryce Coon wants to build even more climate awareness into the education system.
Earth Day 2024: ‘Green muscle memory’ and climate education promote behaviour change
Published: April 19, 2024 6.52am AEST
Preety Sharma Fellow, Dalla Lana Journalism and Health Impact, University of Toronto
Ayeshah Haque Fellow, Dalla Lana Journalism and Health Impact, University of TorontoThis year, organizers of Earth Day are calling for widespread climate education as a critical step in the fight against climate change.
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Despite people’s deep connection to their local environment — whether it’s blackouts in Toronto caused by raccoons, communities gearing up for a total solar eclipse lasting only minutes, chasing northern lights or hundreds of Manitoba kids excited about ice fishing — there remains inertia in climate action.
Sparking global momentum and energy in young people can go a long way to addressing climate change now and in the near future, says Bryce Coon, author of the report and Earth Day’s director of education.
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In his report, Coon outlines the benefits of climate education, starting with supporting educators to impart “green muscle memory” — habits, routines and attitudes young people develop to perform eco-friendly actions repetitively and consistently. This, he notes, contributes to alleviating climate-related despair and anxiety.
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Young people have come to flex their green muscle memory when they load reusable water bottles each day. That small action has become a part of the daily routine for millions of families, and when added together reduces plastic litter.
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Many believe governments should do more, including making climate education a priority. The survey received responses from 4,035 people including educators, students and parents. More than half of the survey respondents were from Ontario (25 per cent) and Québec (29 per cent).
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Read more: https://theconversation.com/earth-day-2024-green-muscle-memory-and-climate-education-promote-behaviour-change-227211
The Earth Day Report cited in The Conversation article claims climate education has the following benefits;
Climate Education vs. The Climate Crisis
Authors:
Bryce Coon Master of Education EARTHDAY.ORG
Dennis Nolasco Master of Education EARTHDAY.ORG
Emily Walker Master of Education EARTHDAY.ORGEditors:
Jacob Wunsh Master of Arts, English EARTHDAY.ORG
Sarah Davies EARTHDAY.ORG…
THE SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS
At EARTHDAY.ORG we believe there are three core reasons why all students should be provided with quality climate education in school. We outline these reasons here, in summary, and then detail them in the remainder of this chapter:
1. CLIMATE ANXIETY:
Students are increasingly anxious about the state of the planet and many are suffering from climate anxiety. By engaging with the topic and using social emotional learning techniques, teachers can play an important role in alleviating this anxiety to support their students’ well-being.
2. GREEN MUSCLE MEMORY:
Once we provide students with the information they need to modify their behaviors and to reduce carbon emissions, it will become second nature to them. That is why, to develop green muscle memory, climate education needs to be taught consistently to children across all subjects, from Kinder- garten to graduation.
3. GROWING THE GREEN ECONOMY:
If we are to find ways of mitigating and coping with the problems that the climate crisis is causing and will cause us in the future, we will need to motivate future generations to find solutions and develop new types of industry. This will create massive economic opportunities. The U.S. has already invested $738 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act in the US1, the EU Green Deal2 is a trillion dollars, and China’s investments3 in renewables and battery technology potentially reaches as much as $3 trillion. This public investment is a means of competing for more private investment and conse- quently green jobs. Climate education is how we can prepare young people for this future and teach them the skills they will need to join this growing green workforce to help drive the global green economy.
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Read more: https://www.earthday.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Climate-Education-vs-The-Climate-Crisis.pdf
The lack of self awareness of such promoters of “climate education” is breathtaking.
Students would be a lot less anxious about climate change if they didn’t have their heads needlessly filled with apocalyptic pseudoscience.
The reality is there is no sign of the alleged climate crisis in agricultural production, or other important metrics. There is no sign storms are getting worse, despite dubious claims by some government weather agencies.
But the poor kids who are being subject to “green muscle memory” training are not being taught these facts, they are being taught that recycling can help save the planet.
As for preparing kids for our green future, there just won’t be that many green jobs. The students would be better off learning to be nuclear engineers. WUWT recently reported how tech giants have quietly surrendered to the necessity for reliable nuclear power when it comes to powering their data centers, despite years of promoting green energy “solutions”. It won’t take long for the rest of the economy to follow, once they experience just how useless renewable energy without the support of fossil fuel actually is.
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