[Un]Sustainable

The late writer David Wallace once told a tale about a passerby asking two young fish, “Morning, boys, how’s the water?” The two young fish have no idea what water is. This tale illustrates the point that when people are immersed in something so ubiquitous, it becomes hard to have a conceptual understanding of it. Such is the case for understanding the pervasiveness of greenhouse gas emissions. From past experience, students often will state “driving” as the main source of CO2 emissions. The purpose of this ETP is to give students a broader view of CO2 emissions and drive an understanding that the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions actually comes from how we make things. Every product present in our lives, from the beginning of production to its end of life/disposal emits greenhouse gases along every step of the way. It is an introductory lesson to present the pervasiveness of the problem, which can then be used to foster deeper conversations about shifting towards a more circular economy (Ellen Macarthur Foundation).