I'm not a fan of "Days." Mother's "Day," Father's "Day," Valentine's "Day," Earth "Day." You get the picture. Be kind to your mother, your father, your love, your Earth...every"DAY." However, I suppose I do see the value in reminding folks of and celebrating what's important, so, this Earth Day my call to action is for educators to GO PAPERLESS!I've been paperless for many years now. It's been easy and a huge improvement in moving past my former paper-trained existence. Here are some useful posts to help other innovative educators do the same.
- How I Lost 20 Pounds in One Month On a Paperless Diet - Read ten steps to a successful paperless diet.
- Ditch Paper and Get to the Thinking Faster - How going paperless makes for a more efficient and effective existence.
- Do More with Less by Going Paperless - Read how one teacher has created a more interactive, engaged classroom experience without paper.
I invite you to join me and hundreds of other educators in going paperless and saving an endless number of trees by the actions of you, your students and other educators you touch. You can take the paperless classroom pledge here.
Getting students to conduct research and debate this conundrum will do more to save the environment than going paperless: "Going Paperless: Not as Green as You May Think" http://bit.ly/9amMHT http://bit.ly/ctiH50
ReplyDeleteI don't see it as either or. Debate is good for the brain and going paperless is good for the environment. If teachers have laptops paper is rarely necessary. If students have laptops or cells, then paper is rarely necessary.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that symbolism drives so much of the advocacy on behalf of the environment. One the one hand, you can promote an effort to use less paper and therefore, save the number of trees that need to be harvested. Yet, on the other hand, relying more on electronic devices creates unintended consequence that very few people pause to consider on this Earth Day. Since the 1980s, the computer hardware industry has reinvented itself many times over. I've often cited the number of school closets I've seen packed to the ceilings with obsolete hardware, hardware that if not properly recycled, would pose grave environmental risks. Then there is the issue of spent battery cells, which also require careful handling.
ReplyDeletePaper and trees make convenient symbols for Earth Day because in the minds of many, paper represents the past, and therefore, it's more expendable. Since computer based hardware represents the future, the issue of recycling obsolete wares doesn't receive very much scrutiny. Why? Because it doesn't fit the marketing profile to "sell" Earth Day to the masses.