Hello and welcome to Environmental Minute! This is a segment brought to you by WDIY, in part by the Estate of Don Miles, and I am your host, Maddie Yang, a junior in high school at Moravian Academy, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I am super passionate about all things climate change, sustainability, and empowering and educating others to take action against the climate crisis. My goal for this segment is to provide listeners with a glimpse to a whole variety of topics in the vast realm of sustainability from biodiversity to ecotourism, and plant-based diets to sustainable swamps.
Today’s episode is about the environment and education. When we think about school subjects, we think math, English, science, and history. But here’s a question: how often are we taught how to take care of the planet we live on?
Environmental education isn’t just about recycling or learning the parts of a flower. It’s about understanding systems — how forests regulate climate, how food gets from soil to plate, how water cycles through communities, and how human decisions ripple through ecosystems.
Studies consistently show that young people care deeply about climate change and environmental protection. But many feel unprepared or powerless. Environmental education changes that. It replaces anxiety with agency. Environmental literacy is also civic literacy.
Integrating sustainability education into curriculums is something that is urgent. Because it’s real. It’s tangible. And it’s happening now.
Things like outdoor learning, school gardens, composting programs, and native plant restoration projects are overlooked and what is being missed is how these extra resources can change the way a school prepares students to become better global citizens who want to initiate change.
Take Discovery Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia for instance. This school is a net-zero energy school meaning it produces as much energy as it consumes. Or the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut which features a 500-acre campus, working farm, and emphasizes reducing, reusing, and recycling.
At Moravian Academy, where I attend school, sustainability is also a major part of our campus and education. We have a 4,532 panel solar array, an apiary, community garden, and our Athletic and Wellness center is Silver LEED certified. Receiving my education in a place that fosters and encourages students to constantly think about the world around them and implement more sustainable practices into everyday life has directly impacted the trajectory of my life and where I want to further my education. My hope is that more sustainable and environmentally conscious schools become the norm and not something that is seen as a “great bonus” or even unnecessary.
The average kid spends about 15,000 hours in school from kindergarten to 12th grade. It is in our best interest to make that time as environmentally-friendly as possible. And it can start small. A club. A garden bed. A compost bin. Or one lesson.
Education is empowerment. And our future needs empowered learners and leaders.
Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Environmental Minute, and I hope this conversation has inspired you to think about the power of education and the environment. Until next time, I’m Maddie Yang, and this has been Environmental Minute.
