Earthday.org has officially announced that the 50th anniversary of Earth Day is going digital. This will be the first time that the annual event will be held digitally on April 22nd due to the challenges that several communities are facing with COVID-19. They stated, "Due to these circumstances, April 22 will mark the first Digital Earth Day, a global digital mobilization to address the most urgent threats to people and the planet." This is a great example of using entrepreneurial thinking!

The efforts to promote a healthier planet on this special day will be shifted to "new digital strategies and resources" in order for people to celebrate safely. Earthday.org is taking the right measures to prioritize health and safety and is committed to making Earth Day 50 happen despite the cancellations and closures of businesses and schools.

Yes, it is still possible to celebrate from home! Earthday.org is offering free resources and activities online. For all teachers that may be required to continue class activities from home, there is an education resource library for lessons and activities that you can do with your students. We also have our own page with plenty of useful resources that you can use in the classroom here. 

Earthday.org is currently making the changes to digital platforms and will notify us shortly with ways for everyone to celebrate Earth Day's 50th anniversary. For more information, you can read the official press release from Earthday.org here. 

Now it is your turn to use entrepreneurial thinking! What is one small thing you can do to reduce the amount of damage to the earth? 

This is the final teacher feature in our "Teachers Go Green" series! If you would like to view past teacher features, visit our blog's homepage here and scroll to discover all the amazing things local teachers are doing with their students.

Sustainability Superheroes would like to introduce Denise Morelli, a lab teacher at Pepin Academy. She uses sustainability in her classroom in many ways. Check out how she inspires entrepreneurial thinking in her students!

Wow! This teacher is doing so much to teach sustainability in her classroom. Making paint out of markers is such a cool idea! Students are learning to be more aware of their consumption and how this affects the environment. They are also learning how to use creative entrepreneurial thinking to solve real world problems!

Thank you to Denise and all our teachers who participated in our "Teachers Go Green" series. If you would like teaching ideas to use sustainability in your classroom, visit our resources page with endless activities and lesson plans that you can use with your students!

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter (@usfstavros) to stay up to date on everything you need to be the best teacher!

Featuring local teachers in our "Teachers Go Green" series serves as a great way to commend all educators who are making a difference for the future of our planet and provide you with ideas and inspiration on how you can do the same things with your students! If you missed previous parts to this series, visit our blog's main page here and scroll down to previous posts.

Today, Sustainability Superheroes would like to introduce Casey P., a first grade teacher who teaches all subjects. She is teaching her students to use entrepreneurial thinking to rethink the way we dispose of used classroom supplies.

For more amazing ideas on teaching sustainability in your classroom, visit our resources page where you can discover tons of lesson plans, activities, videos, and more for students of all grade levels and subjects. Challenge your students to use entrepreneurial thinking to rethink another item that is often thrown in the trash!

It's time for another teacher feature in our "Teachers go GREEN" series where we feature all the amazing things that local Florida teachers are doing to be sustainable. Check out our previous blogs here to discover great ideas from other teacher feature blogs.

Today, Sustainability Superheroes would like to introduce 5th grade math and science teacher, Teresa Buckman!  Check out how she inspired entrepreneurial thinking in her students.

These are fantastic ideas to teach sustainability to kids. Teresa used entrepreneurial thinking to change the way she teaches standards. She was able to take the real-world problems to engage her students in creative entrepreneurial thinking to solve problems. If you need tips on how to get started on teaching your students about sustainability, it never hurts to go with the basics and create lessons on recycling, reducing waste and aiming for a circular economy. We have plenty of resources and lessons plans in these topics!

Recycling

Teach your students about the three R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) with our resource page America Recycles Day. This is where you can get ideas on activities, videos to show students of all grade levels, and much more!

Reducing Waste

Teach your students about smart and efficient ways they can reduce waste by visiting our Garbage Solutions resource page. This has lessons and activities on educating students about what to do with all the garbage in the world and how to mitigate its negative effect on the planet.

​Circular Economy

Students are the future of the planet, and it's important to teach them about these topics so they can make the right decisions in adulthood, whether that's in life or business. Teach your students about the importance of achieving a circular economy where resources can be optimized and not turned into waste at the end of their lives. Then, ask your students to research how one of their favorite goods is made. After they discover some of the sustainability issues that exist, ask them to use entrepreneurial thinking to rethink some of the processes.

For more information on the circular economy, visit the Ellen MacArthur Foundation . Then, visit GreenBiz.com  and ​to see how businesses are trying to solve these problems today!

People have been loving our "Teacher Feature" videos on our social media! We asked local teachers to share with us how they use sustainability in their classrooms. Here is Part 2 of the "Teachers Go Green" series of our blog. 

You can come up with amazing lesson ideas and activities with your students just like Kara did! On our resources page, we have multiple videos, activities, and lesson plans that you can use for free at any time. 

The Garbage Solutions page has useful resources that will get your students thinking, "What do we do with all this garbage?" The Waste Not Want Not page offers lessons to teach your students about the causes of food waste, how to reduce it, and much more. 

Inspiring Entrepreneurial Thinking is all about changes, choices, and challenges. When confronted with an issue, ask students to consider what they would like to change and what other choices they have. You can also have your students participate in a design challenge where they create solutions to the problems of today. For example check out the previous post, where Kara's students created prototypes of goods to solve sustainability issues, and presented them at an in-class Shark Tank competition. How can you inspire your students to use entrepreneurial thinking to find new ways to do things. 

Lately, we've been showcasing "Teacher Features" on our social media where we interview local teachers on what they do to be sustainable with their students. All of these teachers inspired entrepreneurial thinking in their students as they introduced problems and inspired students to create solutions. They have shared lots of great ideas, and now they will be passed down to you!

This is a great way for your students to get a hands-on learning experience on the importance of keeping the environment free of garbage. As part of the activity, give your students a lesson on garbage solutions and how to reduce our waste. 

Start your lesson with a video introducing the problem. Here is an impactful and eye-opening video clip from the movie, Wall-E. It shows what our planet would look like after being overwhelmed with human waste and has essentially reached its limit. Inspire your students to use entrepreneurial thinking to consider new ways to deal with our garbage.

For more lesson ideas on educating students about trash, waste, and solutions, visit our Garbage Solutions resource page with plenty of videos and activities.

Beware of energy vampires! They stick their teeth (plugs) into your sockets and suck energy (and money). Vampire power is also known as phantom loads or standby power. 

What do you think? Is a phantom stealing your electricity? Check out this video created by Natural Resources Canada. After you watch, define standby power and explain how to guard against those energy vampires.

What do you think? How can you use entrepreneurial thinking to change? If you still aren't convinced, Vlad provides us some data about vampire power. 

Did you know that the more watts something uses, the more you pay for electricity! Now, participate in an energy vampire hunt! What did you find? How can you use entrepreneurial thinking to change something you are doing? After you change, how much money did you save?

Activities like this inspire creative entrepreneurial thinking and causes your students to rethink the way they always do things. What are some other habits they can rethink?

Did you know that you can turn food and other organic scraps into savings?  When you put your waste in the garbage, it goes to a landfill where the food releases a greenhouse gas called methane. When you compost organic materials, almost no greenhouse gases are emitted and you end up with a natural fertilizer. Also, composting can lower the carbon footprint of your household and create economic benefits!

What if everyone used creative entrepreneurial thinking to rethink the way we do things? 

For example, did you know that composting can actually save money for businesses and institutions who pay for landfill costs. For example, in 2011, Middlebury College saved $100,000 in landfill costs! How did they do it? They composted 90% of the food waste that was created on the campus. Can you save your school some money by composting? Conduct some research! 

Get your students interested in composting by listening to Put it in the Compost and reading the lyrics.

And use the lyrics 

What are some things you can put in the compost? Check out this ABC Compost Stew book for some clues . . .

Then check out Composting for Kids with Peppa Pig . . .

Then check out more of our composting resources. Then use entrepreneurial thinking to help your students rethink the way they do things. 

​Goal number 13 in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is about climate action, which is also the theme for Earth Day 2020.  

Get involved by using EarthDay.org resources on Climate Action​​. Climate Action is all about using entrepreneurial thinking to rethink the way we do things. To learn more about climate, check out this video from OurClimateOurFuture.org. 

Then check out more of Our Climate Our Future videos about the climate  and a map of climate stories and action from young people across the country. Our Climate Our Future is also holding teacher webinar  on April 1 at 7pm ET to illustrate their resources. They will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day with a Climate Teach-In on April 21.

You can also use the following resources to teach your students about SDG 13: Climate Action. First, show students the cartoon below. Ask: According to the image, what are some of the problems caused by human behavior? What is the potential economic impact of climate change? According to the image, what are some of the solutions to these problems? How can you use entrepreneurial thinking to create solutions?

Then, use this reading passage for your students to learn more about SDG 13:

Ask students: What are some new things you have learned about Climate Action? What are the economic consequences of not acting? Have students create an action plan where they use creative entrepreneurial thinking to find new ways to do things to reduce our carbon footprint. Visit the WorldsLargestLesson.GlobalGoals.org​ to find more lessons and resources on SDG 13, Climate Action. ​

The problem is, sometimes even when we are trying to do the right thing, we participate in wish-cycling. This can create problems for recycling facilities. Here is a very helpful infographic from the NIE that provides some examples of things we shouldn't put in our recycling bins. When in doubt, throw it out!

Read more about recycling from the NIE here. Visit our resources page to get tons of information and lesson ideas on sustainability.