This week's LIO is all about UN SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. Globally, our economic and social progress over the last century has increasingly rested on the use of natural resources. These high levels of environmental degradation endanger the critical systems on which future development and sustainability depend on. It is estimated that one-third of all food produced (1.3 billion tonnes) ends up rotting in our homes and grocery stores, or goes bad during transportation! Reducing food waste is just one way we can contribute to environmental sustainability by increasing the efficiency of our food systems.

The activities below introduce students to many concepts surrounding living a sustainable and environmentally efficient lifestyle. Learn all about assessing our needs vs wants, how and where our trash ends up, interpreting our ecological footprint, and how we can all play a role in reducing our waste!
Grades K-3
In developed nations like Canada, we live in a world of abundance where the desire for the latest products often outweighs the social and environmental costs of our purchases. This lesson develops young students' financial decision-making skills as they evaluate the non-monetary factors that add contentment to their lives. A Loop Scoops video forms the basis of a series of hands-on activities.


Activities
  • Have students brainstorm a list of the things or activities that make them happy in their life. Circle all the items that cost money. Discuss the importance of things in your life that don't cost money
  • Watch the Happiness video, then discuss the relationship between consumer goods and happiness. Ask students to draw what would be in their cart if they were in the video
  • Have students complete the Wants & Needs worksheet and share their choices with the class
  • Have your students sort these Wants vs Needs cards as a group activity or play the Shout Out game
  • Conduct a classroom food audit so students can see just how much food is wasted
  • All communities need air, food, water, and shelter. However, education, electricity, and running water are considered necessities in many cultures. Some cultures might consider cars “a want” or luxury, while other cultures consider transportation a necessity to get to work. As a class, research wants and needs around the world and compare and contrast them with your student’s own community.
What did you think of Needs vs Wants?
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Methane emissions from rotting food in landfills are a leading contributor to climate change and expanded crop production can affect wildlife habitat by depleting freshwater supplies and land. This resource teaches students how re-thinking our approach to the way we use food supports healthy eating and a healthy environment. 

Activities
  • Conduct a Food Audit with your students to show them how much of our food goes to waste
  • Complete the Top Leftover Chef and Grown From Garbage activities to extend the learning about SDG 12
  • Get outside and get active as students learn about the three R's with the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Relay
  • Spring is an excellent time to involve students in a schoolyard clean-up. Litter We Know is an activity that helps students gain a better understanding of the types and amount of litter in the schoolyard while considering the impact of litter on local wildlife. Please remember to observe COVID protocols and social distancing practices in your area
  • Meet the Greens activities have students create a garbage dump pizza (p.4 & 7) or participate in a Bring Your Own Bag campaign (p.5 & 9) to learn more about reusing resources instead of tossing them
What did you think of Food Waste Hurts Our World?
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It is estimated that approximately 30% of the food produced around the world is never consumed or is lost to spoilage. This resource examines how the food we throw away contributes to global environmental issues like habitat loss, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. 

Activities
  • Use the slideshow to introduce your students to the importance of reducing food waste. Discuss the ways food waste impacts the environment
  • Destined For Trash has students write a creative essay or mini-report that extends their learning about food waste
  • Read the Life of a Plastic Fork. Create your own comic strip about the life of a single-use plastic item
  • Share your comic with us on social media using #LearningInsideOut
  • Start reusing or upcycling common household products. Learn how to design your own reusable lunch bag from old materials or rethinking the use of an old t-shirt into a tote bag
  • Use this guide to conduct a school wide food waste audit. The audit can help your school develop strategies to reduce wasted food
What did you think of How Much Food is Wasted Each Year?
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Students explore the concept of ecological footprint, calculate their footprint, consider what individual measures might reduce that footprint, and debate the merits of government regulation and technology in reducing our environmental impact.

Activities
  • Calculate your ecological footprint use this online tool or this paper and pencil alternative
  • What steps could you take to reduce your ecological footprint? Start implementing your footprint reducing ideas and share your tips with us on social media using #LearningInsideOut
  • Hold a class debate about issues of sustainability. Debate topics might include:
  1. To lower our country's ecological footprint, should the Canadian government impose environmental regulations on the entire country? 
  2. Should countries with high ecological footprints look to countries with low ecological footprints as models of how to live sustainably? 
  3. Will we be able to lower our ecological footprint with the use of future technology and do not need to worry about our current resource use?
  • Have students participate in the (OF)2: Our Footprints, Our Future! project by participating in the (CO)2 Youth Calculator and joining the online discussion forums in which teachers and students share their activities to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions/footprint
What did you think of Calculating and Interpreting Your Ecological Footprint?
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About Learning Inside Out

Above you will find a selection of activities, broken down by various grade levels. These guides will be released weekly and archived on our Learning Inside Out page, so you can always access the full catalogue.

All activities have been modified from resources on our R4R database, simplified and adapted for both outdoor learning in the school yard or at-home as needed. The activity descriptions above should contain all the information and links that you need!

If you'd like to view the full original resource on R4R, including curriculum connections for every province/territory, click the activity title.

We want this guide to work for you, so your feedback is invaluable to us.
Use the feedback button at the bottom of this Guide, or email us at info@LSF-LST.ca. We would also love to see photos of students engaging in the activities, please e-mail us any pictures or videos you have!
Let us know how this helped your learning and teaching from home or at school indoors and (hopefully) outdoors and what you'd like to see more of by filling out our brief feedback form!
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Please share widely with any parents and teachers in your life!
Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF) is a Canadian charity with over 25 years of experience working within the education system. Our Resources for Rethinking (R4R) database is an award-winning collection of resources that are peer-reviewed by certified teachers and connected to curriculum in all provinces and territories. R4R is recommended on many Ministry of Education websites.