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Learning Outcomes

1.9 and 2.5

Learning Intentions

I will learn about consumer responsibilities

I will reflect on the impact of my shopping.

I will learn about the impact businesses have on the environment through the production of clothes.

How might you use this stimulus material in class?

This video provides a great introduction to Fast Fashion - defining the problem and outlining the role of social and financial organisations in the industry.

Support resources: the question quadrant provides open and closed questions to support student discussion.

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Know Your Rights: Rights and Protections for Temporary Workers

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Social Enterprise in Action that aims to reduce food waste

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Social Enterprise in Action that aims to reduce food waste

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Learning Outcomes
1.9 and 2.5

Learning Intentions
I will learn what a social enterprise is
I will learn how a social enterprise can positively impact on society and the environment

How would I use this stimulus?
Prepare an activity sheet on the video with questions and ask students to work in pairs to complete the activity

SDG Goal 12: Sustainable food production and consumption

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What is FoodCloud? Meet founders Iseult and Aoibheann

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Learning outcomes
2.4

Leaning Intentions:

I will learn about employment laws and distinguish between fair and unfair dismissal

I will discuss the impact of unfair dismissal on an individual

I will define constructive dismissal

How might I use the stimulus in class?

The article will act as a discussion tool for students

Students will work in their pairs and read the article identifying what they feel leads to fair dismissal

Students will share their thoughts with the class

Students will then do some research into other cases that resulted in payment to the employee due to unfair dismissal

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wrc orders tesco to pay 15000 to worker over unfair dismissal - Search

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Can relate to Fast Fashion article about Kourtney Kardashian as recently she has state she will be creating a 'sustainable' brand with BooHoo

2.5 Investigate the positive and negative impacts on a community of an organisation from
an economic, social and environmental perspective

3.6 Explain how economic growth can impact positively and negatively on society and the
environment and justify the promotion of sustainable development

Learning Outcomes:

I will learn about workers rights.

I will research and develop an opinion on how worker rights can be affected due to Fast Fashion

I will learn and understand the impact that a business (in this case, clothing brand) can have on our economy and society.

How will I use this?

Ask the pupils to research and gather information, providing the above stimulus. Ask them to create a report (new report or newsletter) discussing the issues Fast Fashion has on worker rights, they can use the above examples but should try to incorporate others.

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Learning Outcomes
1.7 & 1.9

Learning Intentions
1. I will learn about consumer responsibilities
2. I will learn about Workers Rights
3.I will reflect about being a responsible consumer

Stimulus
This video provides an introduction into Fair Trade products. I use this to help prepare students for a Group Project on a Fair-Trade products such as Chocolate, coffee, Cotton. I do this in 1st Year in preparation for CBA 1 in Second Year

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Playing Fair - The story of Fairtrade footballs

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Learning outcomes:
1.9
2.5

Learning intentions
1. To understand what fast fashion is and why it is a problem
2. To understand the environmental and human impacts of fast fashion
3. To understand the ecological footprint of our clothes and solutions to reducing it

Stimulus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfANs2y_frk

Get students to reflect on what they would do in this situation
Link to decision making process

https://goodonyou.eco/

Students research their favourite brands using this website to see how sustainable and ethical they are. Will they still buy from this brand after

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The 2 Euro T-Shirt - A Social Experiment

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Example of Spanish sustainable fashion producer

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Example of Spanish sustainable fashion producer

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A sustainable fashion brand has created a footwear range made from single-use plastics collected from the ocean floor.

Spanish company Ecoalf source five plastic bottles from the Mediterranean Sea to create each pair of Shao trainers from its Ocean Waste collection, with no waste generated in the production and manufacturing processes.

Plastic waste from the ocean floor is extracted and processed into a yarn - used to create a black knitted upper sole designed to fit like a sock.

The outsole is composed of an invasive species of algae that grows in lakes and rivers and provides the most sustainable performance driven foam in the world.

"Our Upcycling the Oceans initiative began in Spain in 2015," founder Javier Goyeneche told Sky News.

"To date, we've taken out 250 tons of waste from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea with the support of 3,000 fishermen in 33 ports - which is actively expanding."

The philosophy behind the collection is zero waste - with the plastic bottles developed with PET (recycled polyester).

The insole has been eliminated to reduce the number of materials used, along with shoe laces. The label is also printed instead of attached to minimise fabric wastage.

Ecoalf is helping to save the environment because it is "not only cleaning the seas but also giving a second life to plastic," Mr Goyeneche said.

"On top of this, the harvest of the specific species of algae remediates water in its natural habitat, and protects plant and animal life that depends on fresh water for their survival.

"By not utilising conventional foam, we are also reducing the consumption of oil, which is a main component of the traditional material.

"Instead you wear the most sustainable performance driven foam in the world," he continued.

The sustainable fashion brand has developed over 250 materials using plastic bottles, discarded fishing nets, post-consumed coffee grounds and post-industrial cotton and wool.

Mr Goyeneche said that other companies shy away from creating sustainable fashion because "it is not easy."

"It's hard to find the right technology to transform waste into high quality recycled materials, factories with the capabilities of manufacturing our goods properly."

The rewards have been incredible for Ecoalf, however, which originated in 2009, as it prepares to launch a swimwear collection in Thailand made from plastics next spring.

"Every season we continue to search for the latest materials that will have a low impact in the environment.

"We hope that Ecoalf will inspire others to transition to utilizing recycled materials," he added.

Ecoalf, which ships to the UK, launches its Ocean Waste collection in September.
:: Sky's Ocean Rescue campaign encourages people to reduce their single-use plastics. You can find out more about the campaign and how to get involved at www.skyoceanrescue.com

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Sustainable brand Ecoalf launches trainers made from single-use ocean plastics and algae

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A sustainable fashion brand has created a footwear range made from single-use plastics collected from the ocean floor. Spanish company Ecoalf source five plastic bottles from the Mediterranean Sea to create each pair of Shao trainers from its Ocean Waste collection, with no waste generated in the production and manufacturing processes.

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Unequal pay / Gender equality - Intro to employment equality act 

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Unequal pay / Gender equality - Intro to employment equality act 

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Learning outcomes
2.4
Learning intentions
I will learn about about employment laws
I will define discrimination
I will reflect on inequalities in work the place

How might I use the stimulus in class?
The video can be used as an intro to employment equality acts 1998-2015

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Fast Fashion

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1.7 Distinguish between and appreciate their rights and responsibilities as consumers
2.5 Investigate the positive and negative impacts on a community of an organisation from
an economic, social and environmental perspective
3.6 Explain how economic growth can impact positively and negatively on society and the
environment and justify the promotion of sustainable development

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Oceans of Energy (Ireland's Ocean Energy) EE15 EP10

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Learning Outcomes:
3.6 Explain how economic growth can impact positively and negatively on society and the
environment and justify the promotion of sustainable development

Learning Intentions:

1. We will examine the lifecycle of a t-shirt

2. We will explore the impact that one single t-shirt has on our economy and environment

3. We will discuss what changes could be made to the production process of a t-shirt to promote sustainability

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The life cycle of a t-shirt - Angel Chang

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How does Ireland measure up on Food Waste and what can I do as a responsible consumer and citizen to reduce the impact.
Learning Outcomes
1.1 1.7 1.9 1.10 2.5 3.2
Learning Intentions
I will learn about responsible consumption and my impact on society and the environment.
I will devise a plan to reduce consumption at home and or in my school.

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In Ireland we waste about 1 million tonnes of food each year, according to current best estimates. Growing, processing and transporting food uses a huge amount of resources, such as land, water, energy and fertiliser. If food is wasted, these resources are wasted too.

For information and tips to help you reduce household food waste, visit the EPA's Stop Food Waste website.

Forum on Food Waste

The EPA hosts the national forum on food waste bringing together business and policy leaders from across the food supply chain.
View the presentations and videos from the latest Forum that took place on 4 November 2021
Globally, more than 25% of food produced is wasted. Food waste is also a significant contributor to climate change. It is estimated that food waste generates about 8% to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing food waste is therefore an effective climate action.

Preventing food waste should be prioritised, and any unavoidable food waste should be treated in the most resource efficient way possible. Diverting food waste from landfill has environmental and financial benefits, and the benefits of preventing food waste are even greater.

Food waste and climate change

Food waste is a significant contributor to climate change.

In Ireland, we generate more than one million tonnes of food waste every year which represents a carbon footprint as high as 3.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. It is estimated that food waste generates about 8% to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The Government's Climate Action Plan and Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy include food waste as a priority waste stream and articulate a 50% reduction, reflecting the EU Circular Economy Package and the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 which states:

"By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains".

Food waste hierarchy

In line with the food waste hierarchy, the best option is to prevent food waste; and then ensure any food waste that arises is treated in the most resource efficient way possible.

Food waste prevention programme

The EPA's food waste prevention programme is implemented through the National Waste Prevention Programme.

The programme delivers campaigns and supports targeting food waste in households, across the supply chain and in the hospitality sector, with a view to achieving the national target for a 50% reduction in food waste by 2030.

Household food waste: awareness raising activities through stopfoodwaste.ie and application of behavioural insights to achieve widespread public awareness of environmental and social issues around wasted food; leading to a significant increase in the number of people taking action on the issue.

Supply chain and hospitality: activities to drive change across the Retail, Distribution, Processing and Manufacturing sub-sector, and reducing food waste in the Hospitality and Food Service sectors. Initial actions are focused on roll-out of a standardised measurement methodology, and developing tools and resources for upskilling for action on food waste prevention.

Data and evidence: Behavioural insight is a foundation of the programme, providing evidence and data to inform policy, behavioural change interventions and awareness campaigns, establish sectoral benchmarks and indicators, and to monitor progress. These insights include:

baseline information studies

national surveys on behaviours and attitudes

analysis of waste characterisations and national waste data.

Robust and meaningful data on food waste is central to building a compelling narrative on the benefits of preventing food waste and to complying with national legislative reporting requirements. The EPA produces national waste statistics and therefore has responsibility for producing the relevant statistics under the Waste Framework Directive. The EPA also funds research and studies to develop finer scale understanding and address data gaps in this area.

Forum on Food Waste: The EPA hosts the national forum on food waste bringing together business and policy leaders from across the food supply chain.

How much food do we waste?

We are still refining how we measure food waste and the EPA is undertaking additional studies, and working with businesses along the supply chain to improve data and update these estimates over time.

To give an estimate of current knowledge, the EPA has prepared a short report on the nature and extent of food waste in Ireland, based on currently available information. This report may subsequently be amended as new information comes available.

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In Ireland we waste about 1 million tonnes of food each year, according to current best estimates. Growing, processing and transporting food uses a huge amount of resources, such as land, water, energy and fertiliser. If food is wasted, these resources are wasted too.

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Fourth in a series on what Harvard scholars are doing to identify and understand inequality, in seeking solutions to one of America's most vexing problems.
If you want to get an idea of the gap between the world's sickest and healthiest people, don't fly to a faraway land. Just look around the United States.

Health inequality is part of American life, so deeply entangled with other social problems - disparities in income, education, housing, race, gender, and even geography - that analysts have trouble saying which factors are cause and which are effect. The confusing result, they say, is a massive chicken-and-egg puzzle, its solution reaching beyond just health care. Because of that, everyday realities often determine whether people live in health or infirmity, to a ripe old age or early death.

"There are huge inequalities in this country that often get overlooked ... If you want to observe the problems of poverty and inequality, you don't need to travel all the way to Malawi. You can go to a rural house in America," said Ichiro Kawachi, John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Social Epidemiology and chair of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health's Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. "If you're born a black man in, let's say, New Orleans Parish, your average life expectancy is worse than the male average of countries that are much poorer than America."

Scholars say that inequality in health is actually three related problems. The first, and most critical, involves disparities in health itself: rates of asthma, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, drug abuse, violence, and other afflictions. The second problem involves disparities in care, including access to hospitals, clinics, doctors' offices, skilled professionals, medical technology, essential medicine, and proper procedures to deal with illness and disease. The third problem, one that has grabbed national headlines in recent years, is inequality in health insurance, the financial means to pay for the care people get to stay well.

The three problems, scholars say, require interlaced solutions. President Obama's signature health care law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), has taken important strides in narrowing the gap in health insurance coverage, but those gains so far have translated to limited advances in ensuring access to quality medical care and even less progress in making diverse groups equally healthy.

"That's an area where there's less progress and more disappointment," said John McDonough, professor of the practice of public health at the Harvard Chan School. McDonough has worked on health care reform both in Massachusetts, which created the model for national care, and at the federal level.

Disparities are built into the health care landscape, but there has been great progress in recent decades, according to S.V. Subramanian, professor of population health and geography at the Harvard Chan School and the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. Life expectancy is increasing for African-Americans and the poor, albeit at a lower rate than for wealthy whites. Although stark disparities remain, the overall health picture in this country is one of improvement, analysts say.

"I sometimes feel that the public health narrative is all doom and gloom, but that's inaccurate," Subramanian said.

Still, the remaining disparities are bell-clear in one of the bluntest measures of health: life expectancy, which varies, depending on a resident's race and ethnicity, as much as 30 years between the richest and poorest U.S. counties. That gap, Kawachi said, covers about two-thirds of the range seen between the world's healthiest and unhealthiest populations.

In addition, a new study by the Brookings Institution found that the gap has widened considerably. An upper-income man born in 1920, for example, could expect to live five years longer than someone at the lower end of the income spectrum. But for men born in 1940, that life-expectancy divide based on income has more than doubled, to 12 years.

Health disparities are a major reason why U.S. life expectancy trails many peer nations, Kawachi said. According to a 2014 report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), U.S. life expectancy in 2012 was 78.7 years, 27th out of the group's 34 industrialized democracies.

The fault line of income, and care

Health disparities form along several societal fault lines, but analysts say the deepest and most persistent divide surrounds income. America's poor - of any race or ethnicity - are sicker than well-off Americans, Kawachi said. They get substandard care, live in poor housing and degraded environments, and have higher rates of suicide, violence, drug overdose, accidents, and smoking.

"It's not only a question of racial disparities," Kawachi said. "At the root of it are unequal economic opportunities, unequal education, and despair."

Disparities due to poverty hurt racial and ethnic minorities more than other groups because they make up a large proportion of the poor. Not only do they have more ailments, but they often get worse care.

"If you're having a heart attack, there are very standardized protocols. If you're African-American, you're less likely to get those, even with the same health insurance, even with the same presentation," said Ashish Jha, the K.T. Li Professor of International Health, professor of medicine, and director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. "It's things like that that trouble us."

Disparities in health, Jha said, begin at birth for many African-Americans and persist through life.

"One thing we hoped is that the health care system would be part of the solution. What we find, over and over, is that not only does it not do that consistently, sometimes it makes things worse," Jha said. "It's obviously deeply disappointing."

Though health professionals generally care deeply about their poor and minority patients, the problem nonetheless may be rooted in racism, according to David Williams, Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor of Public Health at the Harvard Chan School and professor of African and African-American studies in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

In a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Williams, along with colleague Ronald Wyatt, cited a 2003 Institute of Medicine report that labeled widespread "implicit bias" for differences in the care that African-Americans and other minorities receive. They said that substandard care leads to an estimated 260 premature African-American deaths each day.

"Insurance is not just supposed to get you access to care, it's supposed to keep you from getting evicted from your apartment because you paid your hospital bill instead of your rent."

"African-American individuals and those in other minority groups receive fewer procedures and poorer-quality medical care than white individuals," Williams and Wyatt wrote. "These differences existed even after statistical adjustment for variations in health insurance, stage and severity of disease, income or education, comorbid disease, and the type of health care facility."

The result of that disparity and others fuels another one: shorter life spans for African-Americans, according to Thomas McGuire, professor of health economics in Harvard Medical School's (HMS) Department of Health Care Policy.

"In terms of health, there's approximately a five-year penalty for being African-American compared to being a white male," McGuire said.

While poverty, race, and ethnicity are key divides between wellness and ill health, another factor - often ignored - is geography, according to Katherine Baicker, C. Boyden Gray Professor of Health Economics at the Harvard Chan School and acting chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management.

Health disparities exist regionally across America - Southern states, for example, have poorer care, according to a 2014 government report. There also are smaller pockets of poverty, such as depressed urban areas.

"I think an important factor that is sometimes overlooked is there are a lot of observed disparities in care ... based on income, race, or ethnicity, that are attributable to the quality of care in some parts of the country lagging behind other parts of the country," Baicker said. "So it's as much about where you live as what your characteristics are."

A doctor battles health inequality

Necessary, but not sufficient

Easily the most significant recent step to lessen health disparities came when Congress passed the ACA in 2010. The law requires people above a certain income to have health insurance, and it expands the Medicaid program to cover those who can't afford it. A 2012 Supreme Court ruling created a significant pothole on the road to universal coverage, however, allowing states to opt out of the Medicaid expansion. That left 4 million poor Americans in 20 states ineligible and on their own.

"Under the ACA, we created a new structure where just about every American citizen and legal resident has access to some kind of affordable health insurance coverage, except for poor adults in states that have not accepted Medicaid expansion under the ACA," McDonough said.

Despite that large pool of uncovered people, McDonough said, the ACA has clearly reduced health inequalities in much of the nation, particularly for minority and ethnic groups.

"The ACA has succeeded in taking a major step forward in reducing inequalities as pertains to access in health insurance coverage," McDonough said. "It has not solved it, but it's a major step forward."

The act also has reduced disparities in medical care and in health status, according to McDonough and McGuire. By requiring insurance companies to cover people regardless of pre-existing conditions, it has worked to level the financial gap between the sick and the well.

Though researchers will require time to prove whether illness and chronic disease have dropped as a result, early studies - including one in 2012 by Benjamin Sommers and another last September led by Joshua Salomon, both at the Harvard Chan School - indicate that health insurance coverage can prevent tens of thousands of premature deaths and prompt more than 650,000 people to control chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Substandard care leads to 260 premature African-American deaths daily.

"What's fairly indisputable is that by expanding coverage to so many millions of otherwise uninsured Americans, we're saving lives," McDonough said.

McDonough said that Oregon presented researchers, led by the Chan School's Baicker and Amy Finkelstein at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a natural experiment when it used a lottery to expand its Medicaid program in 2008. The lottery was a randomized control designed to show that people newly covered by Medicaid took advantage of more preventive care, prescription drugs, and doctors' office visits to stay healthy, as well as more hospital stays and emergency department visits to treat worsening conditions. Their self-reported access to care and quality of care both rose. In addition, they reported better health and lower rates of depression.

The study did not show improvement in several measures of health involving chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes, Baicker said. But there was progress in improving patients' financial stability. People covered by Medicaid had far fewer bills sent to collectors, and catastrophic out-of-pocket medical expenses were virtually eliminated.

"Having insurance improved access to care. It also provided financial protection, which is a component of insurance that people don't talk about but which is really important," Baicker said. "Insurance is not just supposed to get you access to care; it's supposed to keep you from getting evicted from your apartment because you paid your hospital bill instead of your rent."

While the ACA was designed to provide that stability nationally, it isn't perfect, Jha said, and the endless partisan debate surrounding it in Washington, D.C., and in some states has blocked needed fixes, according to analysts. One provision of the measure that Jha finds troubling was supposed to improve patient care by penalizing hospitals with poor patient outcomes. But that provision, he said, backfires where large, urban, safety-net hospitals are involved. Since they serve a disproportionate number of poor people with chronic ailments, they often have worse outcomes that are unrelated to care.

"I do worry that it will worsen disparities," Jha said. "There's good empirical data; the penalties are disproportionately targeting safety-net" hospitals.

A multipronged approach

While the ACA was a giant step in bridging America's health divide, analysts say that merely providing health insurance isn't enough. Insurance helps equalize access to care, but disparities remain in the quality of that care. However, there are levers to tackle that problem too, according to Amitabh Chandra, Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS).

Identifying poor-quality facilities provides an opportunity for rapid improvement by bringing best practices to bear, Chandra said. Baicker agreed, saying such targeted interventions can prove both effective and inexpensive.

"Part of it is about resources," Baicker said. "There's also fairly strong evidence that quality could be improved without costing a lot of money in some places, where best practices are not being implemented. Sometimes, it's not clear what the right thing to do is. But sometimes it is, and our system does not generate high-quality care and best practices nearly as consistently as we would like it to."

Government-led, policy-driven shifts on health care have led to dramatic improvements in the past and could again, Chandra said. When U.S. hospitals were desegregated in the 1960s, there was "overnight" improvement in African-American infant mortality. Similarly, Chandra said, new technology could help disadvantaged populations by improving their care condition by condition. The discovery of surfactants, for example, helped all premature babies breathe better, but benefitted African-American babies in particular because they were more often premature.

Similarly, McGuire said, attitudinal health reforms, such as against stereotypes and race-related disparities, could create a wide ripple effect. "Activation" training, during which patients from disadvantaged populations are encouraged to question physicians and immerse themselves in their own care, could improve their interactions in everyday life as well.

"The next time they interact with someone outside the health care system, this is going to help them there, too," McGuire said.

Targeting the factors influencing health

While policy shifts can be powerful tools against health inequities, Subramanian said that such initiatives should be aimed not at outcomes, but earlier in the chain at the factors influencing health. "From a health perspective, the most important thing to think about would be inequalities in opportunities that are health-promoting, rather than inequalities in health outcomes per se," Subramanian said.

Another helpful policy change would relax America's relatively stingy family-leave and sick-time policies, Kawachi said.

"If you're having a heart attack, there are very standardized protocols. If you're African-American, you're less likely to get those, even with the same health insurance, even with the same presentation."

Among its less-publicized features, the ACA promotes "accountable care organizations," whose financial rewards are linked to better patient outcomes rather than to just providing treatment, thereby linking financial success to patient health.

"Many health care providers are acutely aware of the inadequacy of the office visit alone to improve population health," Baicker said. "They sometimes lack flexibility [to try new things and] they sometimes lack resources. To the extent that they can be given flexibility, coupled with responsibility [for population health], that's an avenue toward better disease management and health promotion."

But eliminating health disparities outright remains problematic because some causes lie outside the care system. Poor education often leads to low-wage jobs, leading to substandard housing and poor diets and smoking, further leading to diabetes and asthma. So any overarching solution would require massive breadth.

"Health insurance affects health care. Health care affects health. But there are other things that affect health," Baicker said, including social determinants, quality food, proper exercise, and wise behavior. "Being poor is really hard on your health in and of itself. Then having limited access to health care is another big hit. But there are lots of things about poverty that are harmful to health that really have nothing to do with health care per se."

Addressing those social and behavioral factors would require government officials and community leaders to think innovatively and cooperatively about the everyday realities that affect health, even down to the designs of neighborhoods and transportation systems. There would have to be more flexibility for health care spending to help, for example, an asthmatic child whose medication might be covered but whose need for an air conditioner is not. Physicians would need to be aware of nonmedical pressures that patients face after leaving their offices that might, for instance, leave them without transportation to follow-up appointments or to pharmacies for medicine. Partner organizations would need to help meet routine needs by such things as grocery shopping and cooking for postoperative patients who are well enough to go home, but can't yet push carts down store aisles.

"It's not just about what we do in the hospital, what we do in the doctor's office. It's about all the things that happen outside of it," Jha said. "We've come to realize that whole processes are important ... not just prescribing right."

Nancy Oriol, HMS dean of students, has been part of a 24-year experiment to hurdle some of those barriers, seeing patients as whole people and meeting them literally where they live.

As director of obstetric anesthesia for Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the 1980s, Oriol became concerned about infant mortality rates in the poor neighborhoods near Boston's Longwood section, where HMS and several of its most prominent affiliate hospitals are located.

She and Cheryl Dorsey, then a third-year medical student, began to develop a mobile clinic, the Family Van, that provides basic health education, screenings, and referrals to residents of poor neighborhoods. Though Oriol no longer works on van issues day-to-day, she is probing how the nation's estimated 2,000 mobile clinics can fill a gap in America's health care network.

Early on, she hoped that the Family Van would become obsolete as the health care system improved. But now Oriol sees the mobile clinics as an emerging sector, a permanent player with their own mission.

"I actually have come to believe that mobile clinics are not a bridge over a gap, but a different form of health care," Oriol said. "It is the health care that brings you health in the same place that you live your life."

60 million with little primary care

In another example of fresh thinking, at HMS's five-year-old Center for Primary Care, co-director Andrew Ellner, an assistant professor of medicine, is tackling a root cause of health disparities: poor primary care.

According to a 2009 report by the National Association of Community Health Centers, a whopping 60 million Americans lack adequate access to primary care. Ellner said that even people who do have access are often poorly served by what they get.

"I think the lack of primary care certainly is part of the problem, but it is also a reflection of the problem," Ellner said. "There's less primary care because there's less financing available to offer care to disadvantaged patient populations."

Good primary care requires correct responses to illnesses, injuries, and other conditions, coupled with strong preventive medicine, including administering vaccines and routine screenings, while encouraging healthy diet and exercise. Another critical factor, Ellner said, is properly coordinating care with other providers, including specialists, therapists, and technicians.

"That's especially important in the U.S. because the health care system is fragmented, and people can get lost. We have to make sure they don't fall through the cracks," he said. "It's definitely part of the solution. Primary care is really on the front lines of health care. It's a critical factor in making the health system work - not just in providing care, but also in making it accessible to people."

Internationally, the United States has a reputation as a country with poor primary care. That reality is a significant factor in high health care costs, even though, Ellner said, there are pockets of excellence that provide primary care as good as anywhere in the world. The challenge, he said, is to scale up those examples nationally and make them the rule rather than the exception.

A team approach to care

In another shift, the HMS center has partnered with seven Harvard-affiliated health systems to install a team-based approach to care. The teams, which are being tested in 28 Boston-area practices serving 300,000 patients, include physicians, nurses, social workers, community health workers, and pharmacy technicians.

"Physicians are important, but a lot of primary-care functions should be filled by non-physicians," Ellner said. "The real fix [to U.S. primary care] will be, over time, to change the ratio of primary care and specialist physicians ... [and] to fundamentally change the organization of primary care into a team approach that allows doctors to focus on the parts of health care for which they are uniquely trained: complex diagnosis and management."

Possible solutions to health care inequality

Earlier diagnoses of ailments

Universal health insurance

Better patient education

More preventive care

Fewer penalties on safety-net hospitals

Monitoring, upgrading struggling facilities

Wider access to technology

Stronger primary care

Broader family-, sick-leave policies

Social systems supporting health

Team approaches to care

Larger social factors play a role in health. Kawachi said studies have shown that preschool programs deliver $1.17 of benefits for each $1 invested. Since poverty is a root cause of health disparities, an increase in the federal minimum wage - which at $7.25 an hour leaves a family of four well below the federal poverty line ― would prove a health boon as well, he said.

The ACA recognizes the need to address the exterior causes of health disparities, McDonough said, but those aspects of the law haven't been taken seriously. For instance, political opponents have attacked the $15 million Prevention and Public Health Trust Fund that provides grants to address poor housing, air quality, and lack of exercise, calling the spending wasteful. Legislators have cut a third of its funds.

"It has been under constant, ruthless assault by opponents of the law as fluff, as paying for jungle gym sets," McDonough said. "Public health and public health programs have always taken a beating in difficult economic times. There was hope that the ACA represented the dawn of a new day and we would break out of that cycle. That hasn't happened."

Despite the endless political tug-of-war over the ACA, Baicker believes that there will be more opportunities soon to experiment with health care reforms, if only to slow cost increases, which have picked up speed.

"There are a lot of positive developments, but I don't think anybody would argue that we solved this problem," Baicker said. "There are serious financial problems with the health care system that necessitate bigger change than we've seen so far."
Illustration by Kathleen M.G. Howlett.

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The costs of inequality: Money = quality health care = longer life

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Fourth in a series on what Harvard scholars are doing to identify and understand inequality, in seeking solutions to one of America's most vexing problems. If you want to get an idea of the gap between the world's sickest and healthiest people, don't fly to a faraway land.

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EIB: Building 21st century sustainable transport

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Learning Outcome: 3.6

Learning Intentions:
I will learn what sustainable transport means.
I will understand choices that can be made to help reduce the impact transport has on the environment.

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SUTD Singapore University of Technology and Design

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Learning outcomes
1.9 & 2.8

Learning intentions
I will learn about the impact businesses have on the environment through the production of automobiles.

I will learn how the government and car companies are creating a marketing mix to promote the sales of electric cars.

I will reflect on how consumers need to be more aware on sustainability.

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Trocaire Brighter Futures Photo Resource

Learning Intentions:
I will learn about Consumer Responsibilities
I will reflect about being a Responsible Consumer

Learning Outcomes:
1.1, 1.7, 1.9 & 3.1

Stimulus:
Students will Think Pair and Share the the idea of Inequality and how we as Consumers may be contributing to that by the choices we make.
Students will reflect on how Third World Countries are engaging in Sustainable production methods. What can or should we be learning from them re: Needs & Wants

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Learning Outcomes 1.1 and 3.1

Learning Intentions:
To analyse the impacts of food production and food waste on a personal, environmental and economic level

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Do Your Homework - Reduce School Food Waste

Back to school means the return of school lunches. We all want to ensure that our children enjoy a healthy and filling lunch, plus, it's important that school lunches don't end up in the bin.

Here are some tips that will help you and your family develop a food waste fighting routine:

Lunchtime is the best part of the school day as far as most kids are concerned but their focus is most likely on getting out to play. Find out how long their breaks are and how long they get to eat. This will help you plan.

Most schools send home uneaten food so keep an eye on what is coming home in the lunch box and be ready to adapt. If leftovers are composted or binned in school, check in with the teacher every once in a while. They might spot where food is regularly wasted.

Small-sized fruit like apples or easy-peel oranges are great for kids. Bigger fruits which need slicing can be preserved and prevented from browning with either lemon juice or by dipping in salt water. Using small airtight containers helps too.

Prepare carrot sticks and put them in water in the fridge. This will help them stay fresh for longer.

Did you know? You can butter frozen bread straight from the freezer and sandwich together your favourite fillings. The sandwich will be defrosted by lunch!

Yoghurt can also be frozen to prolong its shelf life. Take it from the freezer in the morning and it will still be nice and cold at lunch.

When you can, involve the children in making simple decisions about what should be in the lunchbox - give them two options and let them pick one. They may be more likely to eat the food if they feel like they've decided to have it.

Try and get the kids involved in making their lunches. They're much more likely to eat what they have helped prepare. For older children, you can make a list of lunch options which can be added to over time. They could even be given their own shopping list to fulfil on a weekly shopping trip.

Reuse leftovers from dinner in the lunchbox. Leftover pasta can make a great alternative to a sandwich.

After school, check out the lunchboxes before offering a snack. Any leftovers might get a second chance.

Reusable bottles are best for drinks. They lead to less waste and it's much cheaper.

Lunchboxes protect food. With the right box and the right packing, there's no need for cling film or tinfoil. Some boxes are divided into sections for different foods while another strategy is a larger box with smaller boxes to fit into it. Beeswax wraps can be reused.

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Do Your Homework - Reduce School Food Waste - Stop Food Waste

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Back to school means the return of school lunches. We all want to ensure that our children enjoy a healthy and filling lunch, plus, it's important that school lunches don't end up in the bin.

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Making a small income from solar power in the home

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Learning outcomes 1.2, 1.9 , 3.10 and 3.11

I will compare the different options to best manage our income
I can analyse the sustainability issues related to being a good consumer

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Most of us have been peering at our gas and electricity bills through our fingers in recent months.

And the fear that accompanies the arrival of what increasingly resembles a mortgage repayment is about to intensify even further.

Some have already reported receiving utility bills that are two to three times what they were paying last year.

However, the very structure that's costing us this money - our homes - could be the key to reducing our bills and even making some money in the process.

The Government has in recent months put in place a scheme to allow homeowners to sell excess energy generated from solar panels or other means back to the grid.
What's involved?
The Government's Climate Action Plan sets a target of 2.5GW (Gigawatts) of energy coming from solar by 2030.

It's hoped that the Microgeneration Support Scheme (MSS) could contribute about 380MW (Megawatts) to this, which would roughly equate to over 1 million solar panels on around 70,000 buildings.

Legislation enabling the scheme was signed into law in February before coming into effect in July.

Under the MSS, householders can receive a payment per Kilowatt Hour of the extra energy that they generate and sell back to the grid.

And the payments could be backdated to mid-February, or when the microgenerator became eligible for the scheme if after that.

Many suppliers have not yet started payments, despite promising to have commenced it by August, but it's expected that the payment process will get underway soon.
So, how many households are generating their own energy?
According to a study by the MaREI Centre in UCC, about 24,000 homes have already begun the transition to solar.

The study concluded that up to 1 million homes in Ireland could realistically transition to solar energy by 2030, which is significantly higher than the Government's own targets of having 250,000 new rooftop solar systems installed by that date.

They made the calculation using the total number of houses with adequate roof space for ten solar panels and with suitable orientation while excluding vacant properties and apartments other than those on the top floors of complexes.

That equates to enough energy to power one in four of all Irish homes, it concludes, achieving around 8% of our renewable energy targets while eliminating an estimated 135,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
How much does it cost to install solar panels?
There are many variables including the size of the house, the number of panels that can be accommodated, and how much energy you wish to generate with your solar panels, but the standard installation of around 6 panels is estimated to cost around €5,000.

A grant of up to a max of €2,400 (depending on the size of the system and the amount of power it generates) is available from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland bringing the outlay down to around €3,000 for the standard project.

The benefit for the typical family would be that it produces up to 40% of the household's annual electricity needs which would offset between €400 and €450 per year - and even more in the current pricing climate.

"If you're offsetting about €400 on your electricity, the payback is somewhere between 7 and 10 years," Paul Deane, Senior Research Fellow in clean energy futures with the MaREI Centre in UCC estimates.

"It's a relatively decent payback because after the system has paid for itself, you're producing free or low-cost energy for the next 20 years or so," he added.

That return could potentially be accelerated considerably if energy costs stay at their current level.
If I'm not covering the full energy usage of the property, how could I be generating excess energy for the grid?
Energy generation from solar operates on a 'use it or lose it' basis.

So, much of it already ends up going back to the grid, essentially free of charge.

This new system will essentially reward the householder for this contribution to the nation's electricity production.

Some householders will have a diverter installed which will direct some of the excess energy to generate hot water, for example.

It can also be sent to battery storage which will store some energy as a surplus.

However, the more energy that's retained in the house, the less that goes back to the grid that the householder can be rewarded for.

Again, in light of current energy costs, the retention of as much energy in the house as possible is likely preferable.

The government recently eliminated the €600 grant for battery storage in anticipation of the introduction of the MSS which will reward householders for their energy contribution.
How much could I get for generating electricity for the grid?
The participating energy suppliers plan to pay different amounts, but some are more generous than others varying so far from 13.5 cent per kilowatt hour to up to 20 cent.

There are a lot of variables governing what a microgenerator might be able to sell back to the grid including the size of the house, the number and size of solar panels on the property and the amount of energy they are capable of producing and using.

500 excess units at a rate of 13.5 cent, for example, could be worth €67.50 while 1,000 excess units at a rate of 20 cent could amount to €200. An even larger system, capable of exporting 1,500 excess units at rate of 20 cent, would be worth €300.

The first €200 is tax free but anything above that will be taxed as earnings.

It's not a King's ransom by any stretch but when the home is already well on its way to becoming largely energy self-sufficient, it will provide a nice contribution towards the rest of the property's energy costs.

And, apart from the cost benefit, collectively it will make a significant contribution towards meeting the country's renewable energy and carbon reduction targets.
Will the grants be there for the long term, or should I do this as soon as I can?
In light of the rate at which energy costs are increasing, it could be a savvy investment in the home right now, particularly if spare cash is available.

"Every Kilowatt hour that you don't have to buy in is a saving," Pat Smith, Chairman of the Micro-Renewable Energy Federation pointed out.

"If you put in solar PV, it will be the only investment in your home that will give you an annual payment for any surplus payment to the grid, that will reduce an energy bill that's rising, and it will improve the value of your home in the context of its resale value," he added.

He said he believed the elimination of the battery grant was a regressive step that could signal further reductions in the grants in the years ahead as more and more people seek to have the technology installed.

He argued that the grants should be increasing in value as the cost of installing solar technology was steadily rising across the world.

He was also critical of the decision to end grant supports for solar panel installations by businesses, a move which, he said, 'made no sense'.

"They'll benefit from the feed-in tariff, but they're being denied grants and supports to adopt microgeneration going forward," he explained.

"We've hundreds of businesses that are under immense pressure. The Government should be providing easily accessible grants to all businesses to try to get them to generate renewable energy," Pat Smith argued.

He added that solar microgeneration was a 'quick fix' and one that could be implemented very quickly.

"Offshore wind could be 5 or 6 years down the road," he pointed out.

Solar is also relatively low maintenance compared to wind generation as there are no moving parts and the output is considered to be predictable.

While we don't live in the warmest or sunniest climes, despite beliefs to the contrary, we get quite a large amount of natural light in this country.

As well as harnessing it for our own household energy needs, we'll soon be able to generate a small income from it.

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Making a small income from solar power in the home

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The Government has in recent months put in place a scheme to allow homeowners to sell excess energy generated from solar panels or other means back to the grid. It won't make us wealthy but it make a nice contribution to the rest of the home's energy costs.

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Apologies to whoever thought of this already! Great minds think alike!

Learning outcomes: 1.9 and 2.2
Learning intentions: I will learn the skills of an entrepreneur. I will learn how entrepreneurs notice gaps in the market/ a problem that needs to be solved while also positively helping society and the environment.
How to use stimulus material in class: get students to try and identify the characteristics of an entrepreneur and explain this business idea in their own words.

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FoodCloud Manifesto - Hungry for a Kinder World

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Learning Intentions:
Explain how consumers and businesss contribute to food waste.
Investiagate the impact of food waste on the environment
Recommend how consumers and businessses could reduce their food waste

How to use stimulus: Using a graphic organiser, divide into consumers and businesses down the middle.
1. How each contribute to food waste.
2. Impact on the environment
3. Make a recommendation on what each could do to reduce food waste.

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Let's talk about global food waste:

More than 1/3 of all food is wasted. That's 1.3 billion tonnes every year according to The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). If food waste were a country it would be the 3rd largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China causing 3.3 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.

It's not just the food itself that goes to waste, it's all the resources that went into making it, from water to land and labour. Food waste is a massive problem affecting people, planet and profit: almost 870 million people in the world go hungry every day, food waste contributes 8% of the world Green House Gas Emissions and the estimated global cost is €1.2 trillion of profit is lost every year.

According to the Stop Food Waste website we generate at least 1 million tonnes of food waste each year here in Ireland. Most of us are unaware of where the food we waste actually ends up, so we don't fully understand the direct and indirect consequence. The worst case is that food waste is collected and then either disposed of in landfill or incinerated. Less than half is recycled into biogas and compost, or reused for animal feed within the EU.

Food waste is a complex issue with many actors along the in the value chain in Europe. According to a Mervin de Groot of the food waste movement Too Good To Go speaking at a recent Food Sustainability Forum: "23% of food waste volume happens at production level, 12% at storage and handling, 5% at processing level, 9% at distribution and market level and a whopping 52% of food waste volume occurs at consumption level."

To tackle waste in our food supply chain, the EPA will host The Third National Forum on Food Waste in Dublin on 10 July 2019. The Forum will bring together delegates from businesses along the supply chain to provide insights on the issues and challenges in relation to food loss and waste in Ireland, presenting key findings from a new study on commercial food waste in Ireland. National and international perspectives on food waste will also be presented, including updates on upcoming EU legislation to measure and report on food waste in the supply chain along with new opportunities to work collaboratively to reduce food waste. You can register to attend here.

Stop Food Waste's campaign Working to Reduce Food Waste, highlights that over 20,000 tonnes of food waste from offices are ending up in the municipal waste stream in Ireland each year. Citing this as a "big national issue and, because food waste doesn't stop when we walk out the front door of home" they are hoping to encourage businesses and employees to think about how they can reduce their food waste when at work. They offer resources and training workshops on their website.

All Origin Green members should try and get involved in the EPA activities. They will provide ideas as to how you could achieve your food waste reduction targets.

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Let's talk about global food waste: More than 1/3 of all food is wasted. That's 1.3 billion tonnes every year according to The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). If food waste were a country it would be the 3rd largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China causing 3.3 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.

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Methane, a contributing factor to Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

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Methane, a contributing factor to Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

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Learning Outcomes
1.2 , 2.5 & 3.6

Learning Intentions
1. What are Greenhouse Gases and what effect are they having on the world today?
2. Provoke though and conversation around mass production of meat/ poultry.
3. Creating cross-curricular links with maths and Ag. Science classes.

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Learning outcomes:
1.9 Debate the ethical and sustainability issues that arise from their consumption of goods and services and evaluate how they can contribute to sustainable development
through consumer behaviour
2.5 Investigate the positive and negative impacts on a community of an organisation from an economic, social and environmental perspective

Learning intentions:
1. Under what 'sustainability' really means
2. To be able to apply the concept of sustainability to a recognizable brand
3. To understand the impact of clothes processing on our lives and create solutions to reduce this impact

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ReCrafted | These Are Clothes Made From Other Clothes

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1.9 Debate the ethical and sustainability issues that arise from their consumption of goods and services and evaluate how they can contribute to sustainable development
through consumer behaviour
2.5 Investigate the positive and negative impacts on a community of an organisation from an economic, social and environmental perspective

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If you think fast fashion is bad, check out SHEIN

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3.10 Use their knowledge, and information from a range of media sources, to discuss current economic issues and present an informed view

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Learning outcomes:
2.3 Differentiate between employment, work and volunteerism, identifying and describing features, benefits, rewards and careers within each
2.4 Distinguish between the rights and responsibilities of employer and employee from a legal, social, environmental and ethical perspective

Learning Intentions:
Identify rights and responsibilities of employers and employees
Identify different forms of industrial action
Explain official and unofficial strike

How will I use this?
Invite students to read the article, design a strike placard and conduct a mini-picketline in the classroom, research the rights and responsibilities of employers.

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Yesterday (Tuesday 26 th May 2020) Mandate Trade Union formally launched a Debenhams national official strike campaign.

Mandate Trade Union members in Cork held pickets at both the Debenhams Patrick Street and Mahon Point locations.

Debenhams workers recently voted to engage in industrial action across all eleven Debenhams locations by a margin of 97 percent in favour. A key objective of the industrial action campaign is to prevent the removal of any remaining company assets from the closed stores and to pressurise the Debenhams parent company in the UK to pay a fair union negotiated redundancy package to their loyal staff in Ireland.

Commenting on the first two of many planned pickets Gerry Light Mandate, Assistant General Secretary said:

"Mandate stands fully behind our Debenhams members' demand for a reasonable and fair redundancy package. These workers have been disgracefully treated by their employer and their anguish and frustration is exacerbated by attempts by the company yesterday (Tuesday 26 th May) to remove assets from one of the stores."

He added, "In Cork yesterday, our members bravely managed to prevent an insidious attempt by company representatives to remove assets from the empty Debenhams Patrick Street location. Our members, legally protected by an official ballot for industrial action, stood firm. They are extremely single minded in their determination to secure a fair redundancy package and their union will provide all the necessary support to help them achieve that justifiable objective."

Mr Light continued, "In the event of this type of sleight of hand manoeuvre occurring again, let me make one thing very clear to this company, any further attempts by Debenhams to frustrate our official national strike and to undermine our official pickets by attempting to remove assets will be met with strong and determined resistance.

He concluded: "These eleven Debenhams locations will be subject to ongoing pickets no matter who decides to operate a business from them and our campaign will incrementally intensify accordingly. This union and its members will do everything within its power to halt the transfer of valuable assets from all eleven locations until a fair and satisfactory resolution to this dispute has been agreed."

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Debenhams workers launch official strike action

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Yesterday (Tuesday 26th May 2020) Mandate Trade Union formally launched a Debenhams national official strike campaign. Mandate Trade Union members in Cork held pickets at both the Debenhams Patrick Street and Mahon Point locations. Debenhams workers recently voted to engage in industrial action across all eleven Debenhams locations by a margin of 97 percent in [...]

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Learning Outcomes
2.4 Distinguish between the rights and responsibilities of employer and employee from a
legal, social, environmental and ethical perspective

Learning intentions
I will learn about about employer rights and responsibilities
I will define ethics
I will reflect upon work practices and employee rights both nationally and internationally

How might I use the stimulus in class?
Video shown in order to stimulate a discussion on work practices and employee rights in other countries as well as the ethical implications.

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Children Labor For Pennies Mining Mica In Madagascar | TODAY

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The future of packaging - reducing food waste

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Learning Outcomes
1.1 1.9 2.5 3.1

Learning intentions
I will learn how to distinguish between needs and wants
I will be able to make decisions on purchasing my needs and wants based on the environmental and social impact
Distinguish between companies who practice low impact packaging
List ways I can practice good packaging of materials

Stimulus
Video on food waste packaging. Watch video and discuss ways students could identify products that have good sustainable packaging and think of ideas to help reuse and reduce packaging

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The future of packaging - reducing food waste

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Learning outcomes: 1.1, 1.7, 1.9

Learning Intentions:
Identify needs and wants
How to manage personal finances to save money

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Appliances and lighting combined account for one fifth of all the energy used in your home but there are ways to reduce the energy consumed and save money.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland says savings can be made by not leaving appliances on standby mode and being mindful about how and when to use them.

"A good rule of thumb is if it makes things hot, then it uses a lot of electricity. For example, electric showers, kettles, tumble dryer and hairdryers," says Susan Andrews from the SEAI.

Susan Andrews says if it makes things hot, it uses a lot of electricity

Tips on how to reduce energy and save money Fridge/freezer
Close the fridge door as quickly as possible. If it's open for even 20 seconds it takes 45 minutes for the fridge to cool down to its original temperature.

Defrost your freezer regularly. The SEAI recommends to do it every six months to help it run efficiently.
Dishwasher
Only turn on the dishwasher when it is fully loaded.

Use a low temperature setting and an eco-setting, if it has one.
Washing machine
Use a lower temperature of 30 degrees and wait until you have a full load before turning it on, but don't overload it.
Tumble dryer
Avoid using a tumble dryer if possible. Instead use a clothes horse or, if the weather allows, hang washing outdoors. If the dryer has to be used, turn it on during off-peak hours and keep the filters clean.
Boiler
Get it serviced once a year to run more efficiently. The SEAI suggests asking your plumber to explain the settings and how to use them correctly.
Oven
The oven is one of the most expensive appliances in the home to run. Close the door quickly after opening while cooking or it will have to reheat itself which will require more energy. Batch cooking saves time and energy. It is better to use a microwave for smaller meals instead of your oven.
Kettle
Only boil the kettle for the amount of water you need. There are measurements on it to help you.
IPhones
Don't charge your phone at night time when you're in bed. The device might only need one hour to fully charge, not the seven or eight hours while you sleep.
Standby mode
Plug out appliances when not in use. Even in standby mode they are using 20% of the energy they would consume if they were on. So, if there's any kind of light on, it means there's electricity going through the device.

Electric Ireland says devices on "standby" typically make up about 7% of a home's energy usage. It says laptops should only be plugged in when being charged and should be unplugged when not in use.
Lighting
Turn off lights when you are leaving a room or when you do not need them.

Use low energy LED lights, especially in rooms you use a lot, like the living room and kitchen.
Heating
Turn the thermostat for your living areas down to 20°C.

The temperature in hallways and bedrooms should be cooler, ideally between 15-18°C.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland says a heating bill could be reduced by 10% by lowering room temperature by just one degree.

Turn the radiator temperature down or off in rooms that aren't used a lot.

Close doors between rooms that are heated and unheated to keep the heat in.

Have a shower instead of a bath as a shower typically uses 20% of the energy compared to a full bath.

Use timers to control when heating and the immersion comes on.

For more information see the SEAI website

Meanwhile, according to bonkers.ie, to reduce water heating costs by up to 30% you need to make sure your tank is properly insulated with a three-inch thick lagging jacket.

Conserving hot water is also a good practice, so make sure you don't leave the hot tap running too long "as you're literally pouring money down the drain".

An LED lightbulb uses around 80-90% less electricity than a standard bulb and will last up to 10 times longer. Replacing all the lightbulbs in your home could easily save you up to €60 a year depending on how many lights you have.
Home energy monitors
If you want to see how much energy an appliance is using, an energy monitor can be used.

Home Energy Saving Kits are available in more than 120 libraries across Ireland which allow homeowners to monitor their energy usage and insulation levels.

The kits can be borrowed for two to three weeks to carry out a home energy audit.

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How to reduce energy consumption and save money

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Appliances and lighting combined account for one fifth of all the energy used in your home but there are ways to reduce the energy consumed and save money.

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Learning Outcomes:
1.1  Review the personal resources available to them to realise their needs and wants and analyse the extent to which realising their needs and wants may impact on individuals and society
1.9  Debate the ethical and sustainability issues that arise from their consumption of goods and services and evaluate how they can contribute to sustainable development through consumer behaviour
3.6  Explain how economic growth can impact positively and negatively on society and the environment and justify the promotion of sustainable development

Learning Intentions:
1. We will distinguish between needs and wants.
2. We will discuss how our wants impact on society
3. We will debate the impact of big businesses on sustainability
4. We will give examples of how businesses can reduce their environmental impact

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Learning Intentions
1. I will learn about consumer responsibilities
2. I will learn about the impact of plastic packaging waste on the environment
3. I will reflect about the benefits of responsible consumer choices for our planet

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Plastic packaging waste - problems and statistics

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Learning Outcomes: 2.3 2.4, 3.8

Learning Intentions:
Outline rights and responsibilities of employers and employees in relation to fair pay
Differentiate between paid and unpaid work (including volunteerism)
Identify the role of the European Commission

How I would use this?
Invite students to read article in class, design a poster highlighting the key findings from the report, write a letter to local TD explaining the rights of women in the workplace and the importance of pay equality for social and economic sustainability

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European Commission - European Commission

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Causes of the gender pay gap in the EU, the pay gap situation in different EU countries.

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Learning outcomes:
1.7, 1.9, 2.4, 3.1

Students will do a mini research project about coffee brands in local supermarkets in groups of 3/4, note the cost of all fair trade and non-fairtrade brands.
They will observe what coffee is used both at home and also in the school staffroom/canteen.
After all the information is found they will present their findings to the class. At this point the documentary will be shown and students will be asked to reflect on the documentary, and if it changed their opinion of how the cost of cheap non-fairtrade coffee has a knock on effect on 3rd world producers, and if they could justify the expense of buying fairtrade.

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The perfect coffee – fair trade and sustainable | DW Documentary

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Learning Outcomes
1.1 Review the personal resources available to them to realise their needs and wants and analyse the extent to which realising their needs and wants may impact on individuals
and society
1.10 Discuss and evaluate how globalisation and developments in technology impact on
consumer choice and behaviour
Learning intentions:
>identify the difference between needs and wants
>understand the effect of my needs and wants on society and myself
>understand that as a consumer I have many choices available to me

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10 Sustainable Food Packaging Companies To Support (2022)

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Learning outcomes
Debate the ethical and sustainability issues that arise from their consumption of goods
and services and evaluate how they can contribute to sustainable development
Investigate the positive and negative impacts on a community of an organisation from
an economic, social and environmental perspective
through consumer behaviour

Learning Intentions

Explain how business contribute to food waste
Being a responsible consumer
Social enterprises

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Food-waste, which connects consumers with surplus food from local businesses, launched in Ireland

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Learning Outcomes
1.9 and 3.3

Learning Intentions
1. I will learn how my consumption of food and my choices as a consumer will affect wider issues (sustainability, environment..)
2. I will be able to make more informed decisions regarding the supply/demand of food and the prices associated with this.

Stimulus Material
A photo of Food Waste

How I can use this stimulus?
This will aid to the lesson and highlight the problem worldwide

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How to use crowdfunding for natural disasters such as floods

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How to use crowdfunding for natural disasters such as floods

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Learning Outcomes:
1.9 Debate the ethical and sustainability issues that arise from their consumption of goods and services and evaluate how they can contribute to sustainable development through consumer behaviour
2.11 Assess the importance of planning an organisation’s cash flow, propose suitable sources of finance to manage expenditure and prepare a budget
3.2 Explain how individuals, organisations (for profit and not-for-profit) and the government work together to distribute economic resources used to produce goods and services

Learning Intentions
Explain the meaning of crowdfunding. Describe how it works
Describe how crowdfunding can be used by businesses

How would I use this:
Read the article with students in class. Divide into groups, and each group to take one natural disaster and present to the class. Decide on natural disaster to support and the teacher opens up a crowdfunding account to raise money for the school.

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How You Can Use Crowdfunding for Natural Disasters

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Natural disasters are events caused by powerful forces of nature that affect millions of people every year. These events have the power to destroy any landscape and displace entire communities overnight. Severe weather events and natural processes of the Earth cause lasting impacts to the economy, the environment, and human life.

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What are the learning outcomes?

2.5
3.5
3.6
3.11

What are the learning intentions?

To understand how an increase in economic growth may impact the environment negatively

To understand how the Government may encourage us to support the use of clean energy through grants/tax reform.

That as a consumer, we must understand that we are responsible for using clean energy

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The green economy is driving growth and job creation in the United States, but as the rest of the world catches up, the U.S. will have to enact new and supportive policies to remain competitive, a new study from University College London found.

The green economy generates $1.3 trillion in annual sales revenue in the United States, while creating 9.5 million full-time jobs, climatologist Mark Maslin and researcher Lucien Georgeson said in their study published in the online journal Palgrave Communications.

This growing part of the economy is increasingly important since the United States has a greater proportion of the working-age population employed by the green economy. It also has a higher sales revenue per capita generated by the green economy than China or any country in the OECD or G-20, the study said.

But other nations are catching up and looking to capitalize on the potential. To remain competitive, the United States will have to develop energy, environment and education policies that support growth in areas like renewable energy.

To arrive at their conclusions, Maslin and Georgeson focused on low carbon industries such as electric vehicles and energy management in buildings. They complied public and private data - often at a granular level - and then used data triangulation to synthesize the different data sets and samples.

To put the numbers from the study in context, the 9.5 million jobs represents over 4% of the working age population in the United States, while $1.3 trillion is a little under 7% of annual GDP.

Estimating the impact of the green economy in the United States is challenging. Not only is there a broad and varied definition of what constitutes "green," but there's also no official data collected by the government. The Bureau of Labor Statistics used to publish a "Green Goods and Services" survey, but it was discontinued in 2013 following budget cuts.

The researchers said their methodology "can estimate the sales and employment in the green economy, the share of the country's economy taken up by the green economy, growth in the green economy and the green economy sectors that are leading that growth."

Innovation and technological advancements are often at the forefront of the green economy, but the researchers only included industries where there was a measurable economic impact.

The United States' green economy grew 20% from 2013 to 2016, and that number is projected to keep rising as the battle to fight climate change accelerates. But the rest of the world is catching up, and the United States will need to enact new policies to safeguard the millions of Americans who depend on the burgeoning space, the researchers argued.

"To safeguard US economic development and job creation, we suggest that economic, environmental and education policies need to be developed to support the US green economy in the context of global developments in the green economy."

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US 'green economy' generates $1.3 trillion and employs millions, new study finds

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The green economy is driving growth and job creation in the United States, but as the rest of the world catches up, the U.S. will have to enact new and supportive policies to remain competitive, a new study from University College London found.

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Volunteering  and Sustainability (Climate Change)

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Volunteering  and Sustainability (Climate Change)

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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-62928643

Learning Outcomes:
2.3 Differentiate between employment, work and volunteerism, identifying and describing features, benefits, rewards and careers within each
1.9 Debate the ethical and sustainability issues that arise from their consumption of goods and services and evaluate how they can contribute to sustainable development through consumer behavior

Learning Intentions:
-I will be able to distinguish between work, employment and volunteerism
-I will understand  the concept of volunteerism and the reasons why people volunteer
-I will acknowledge and reflect on the relationship between sustainable development, sustainable consumption and being an ethical consumer - linked to climate change

Stimulus:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-62928643

https://www.redcross.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/international/pakistan#People%20affected

Students will think pair share the idea of work vs employment vs volunteering (Mind map)

Teacher/students will read through the article(s) and using graphic organizers group reasons why to volunteer into social/environmental/economic sections - does not have to link to article

Students will work individually to come up with 3 ways/reasons why/how their actions as an ethical and responsible consumer can link to the extreme weather and flooding  in developing world countries

Cross curricular links with Geography, Science

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As sea-strength flood waters devastate Pakistan, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is supporting the millions of people who have lost their homes, livelihoods and loved ones.

Last updated 26 September 2022

Pakistan floods: waterborne diseases a growing threat

More than 1,190 people have died, including children, after sea-strength flood water ravaged Pakistan. 33 million people have had to leave their homes with little or no belongings, and are now in severe danger. That's around half of the UK.

As the flooding begins to subside, the scale of the humanitarian crisis is becoming clearer. People are in dire need of health services, shelter, food, clean water, toilet facilities, livelihood support and medical support. It could take three to six months for the water to completely recede.

And now, a country ravaged by floods, is facing a growing health crisis. Waterborne diseases like acute watery diarrhoea, dengue fever, malaria and chikungunya are taking significant hold as people are forced to drink contaminated water. Babies and children are particularly affected.

The Pakistan Red Crescent and IFRC are on the ground, providing people with essential support, including shelter, food, clean water and medical aid. But we urgently need funds to help them to reach more people.

Please donate to the Pakistan Floods Appeal if you can.

House after house was drenched in water and mud. Everything inside was destroyed and mosquitos were everywhere. Some managed to get their loved ones to higher ground. Others were not so lucky. Everyone we met said that all they needed were food and water to survive.
Alexander Matheou, Asia Pacific Regional Director of IFRC

How your donation will help

Help us meet people's most urgent needs: clean water, food, emergency shelter, healthcare, sanitation and hygiene, child protection, and items such as life jackets.

£10 could provide essential hygiene supplies for two people

£50 could provide emergency shelter for two families

£100 could provide emergency food for two families for a month

Donate to the Pakistan Floods Appeal

Are you looking for missing family in Pakistan?

If you know someone who may have been affected by the floods, please try to contact them first by normal communications methods such as telephone or mobile.

If you're concerned about a British national, you should contact the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office on 0207 008 1500.

For other nationalities, please contact your own embassy for more information.

You can also contact the British Red Cross tracing service.

Please email: findyour_family@redcross.org.uk and provide us with your full name and telephone number. A team member from the International Family Tracing service will contact you as soon as possible.

If you have lost contact and are not in the UK, please contact your local Red Cross or Red Crescent.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT FAMILY TRACING

How are people affected by floods in Pakistan?

The most affected provinces are Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with the highest loss of life in Sindh - a low lying area. It will take months before the water subsides and we know the true humanitarian toll on the people of Pakistan.

Relentless, torrential rain, floods and landslides are very difficult to handle, even for the most prepared and resilient communities. More than a million homes have been destroyed or badly damaged, leaving many homeless and exposed to the elements.

Around 33 million have been affected overall - one in seven Pakistanis. Whole villages have been cut off, with rescuers struggling to reach them.

People are in dire need of shelter, cooked food, dry food, clean water, toilet facilities, livelihood support and medical support.

The local markets are affected, and people can't get hold of essential everyday items. Toilets and tube wells are submerged in large numbers, while sewers are overflowing with rubbish, leading to an acute crisis of clean water and sanitation.

Long-term effects of the floods in Pakistan

More than 4m acres of crops and agricultural land has now been destroyed, and 800,000 livestock killed. This means that many people will go hungry and will have lost their livelihoods.

How is the Red Cross supporting people affected by flooding in Pakistan?

The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are supporting affected people on the ground. The primary focus of the relief effort is to save lives and provide temporary shelter and blankets to people who lost their homes, along with clean water, food, medical support and sanitation to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases.

Humanitarian agencies are mainly working in 23 districts across Balochistan, Sindh, Kyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, coordinating with the local authorities and UN agencies to deliver humanitarian support where it's needed the most and to the most vulnerable.

These communities include women, girls and children, older people, people with disabilities and the critically ill, as well as disadvantaged communities in rural areas and people who have had to leave their homes.

However, with more rainfall and flooding forecast, it's likely that the humanitarian will worsen.

Reports of waterborne disease in the wake of the Pakistan floods

After flooding, waterborne diseases pose a risk to communities.

Waterborne disease breaks out when sewage contaminates drinking water or gets onto food. Many affected communities are currently unable to access clean water, toilet and handwashing facilities as water systems have been destroyed. They are also exhausted and hungry, and more susceptible to infection.

These diseases are treatable, but can rapidly escalate into a major health emergency in overcrowded conditions where sanitation is poor.

That's why humanitarian agencies are providing clean water and sanitation as a priority.

Pakistan and the impact of climate change

There is mounting evidence that climate change has prompted these unprecedented floods in Pakistan. This year, rainfall in Pakistan has been ten times higher than normal.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called the situation a 'climate catastrophe'. He's called upon the world to send humanitarian assistance.

Pakistan is among the ten countries most affected by extreme weather events, despite having having a very low carbon footprint itself.

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As sea-strength flood waters devastate Pakistan, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is supporting the millions of people who have lost their homes, livelihoods and loved ones. Last updated 26 September 2022 More than 1,190 people have died, including children, after sea-strength flood water ravaged Pakistan.