1 . How to Improve Climate Literacy
Climate literacy is the ability to identify, understand and explain information associated with climate science.
Over the past few years, many young people and educators have pushed for the inclusion of climate literacy in national curricula. So what are the best ways in which this can be embedded within already packed school timetables?
True climate literacy must address not only the science of climate change, but also issues of climate (in)justice, including how climate change affects people and places unevenly and contributes to inequalities within and across nations.
One way to do this is through visual storytelling. Storytelling, often involving drawings and paintings, has been used by human communities to pass on knowledge or tales of caution for at least 30,000 years — as you can see from the cave painting.
One effect of storytelling is its ability to create cognitive dissonance: the mental conflict and discomfort felt when a person’s behaviour isn’t in line with their beliefs. Stories that demonstrate the consequences of not acting eco-consciously — especially if those consequences are shown visually — can be a good way to do this, leading to individuals being more likely to take climate action in their own lives or by confronting corporate activities.
A.Therefore, the teachers we worked with remarked that lessons are typically focused on the physical processes of climate change. |
B.However, at present, much of climate change education is focused on the physical aspects of climate change, often at a global scale. |
C.The next stages of our research will reflect how a separated community has come together through this journey towards climate literacy. |
D.Being climate literate allows individuals to become active participants in the fight against climate change. |
E.This collective psychological distancing means many fail to recognise the urgency of the climate crisis. |
2 . The Last Straw?
Every second, the world uses 160,000 plastic bags — that is a total of over five trillion per year. Up to 99 percent of these plastic bags hang around for at least 1,000 years and pollute Earth. And yet, plastic bags are hardly a necessity in our lives. Of all the changes we could make to create a more sustainable lifestyle, a total ban on plastic bags should be simple.
At the beginning of 2021, Shanghai put in effect a ban on all plastic bags in shopping malls and supermarkets, as well as a ban on non-degradable plastics in many other areas. Over the years, individuals and companies have worked to replace plastic items, such as cups and straws, with paper ones.
Customers complain that paper straws often become soft and break before they can finish their hot drinks. Experts, however, have repeatedly stressed plastic substitutes (替代品) are not the ultimate solution, and that our consumption habits need a bigger change.
In college, one of my environmental science professors promoted a type of waste-free living. She carried around a small glass jar with her, and in it was all her trash she collected for the entire year. She was able to do this by bringing her own cup to Starbucks, her own bags to the shops, and never buying anything that came wrapped in plastic. Her food waste also became compost.
Plastic bags are incredibly easy to forget about when they become increasingly common.
A.Clearly she demonstrated our ability to live a completely healthy life without creating a great deal of plastic waste. |
B.Plastic bag litter has even caused great problems in some areas. |
C.If they’re free to use and easily disposed of, they’re a mere tool that we don’t have to think about. |
D.Some of these decisions have been met with criticism. |
E.Unfortunately, such a high level of pollution doesn’t come without consequences. |