Mata3     The Impact and Importance of Sustainability Education According to the United States Census Bureau’s International Data, the world population has reached 7

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The Impact and Importance of Sustainability Education

According to the United States Census Bureau’s International Data, the world population has reached 7.9 billion today. As we all know, men need about 2,500 calories a day and women about 2,000 every day to keep their bodies working efficiently(Giles). Due to the world’s growing population, the capacity of the Earth’s natural resources must be increased to sustain human life. It has therefore become increasingly important to encourage consumers to adopt healthier and better lifestyles by adopting sustainable products. To promote sustainable development in our society, we must educate our future leaders on the importance of sustainability: what Impact do sustainability lessons have on school children?

There is a need to educate children on sustainability by taking full responsibility for their actions. Sustainability has become an especially important word at universities.Sustainability can be defined as studying the functioning of natural systems to maintain varied and to produce and maintain an environmental equilibrium, though it also regards for the use of natural resources by humans to sustain modern life (Colonist). According to Guam EPA Public Information Officer Tammy Jo Anderson Taft, providing sustainability lesson is a great way to connect the environment to the classroom. She explained that, by learning about the environment, students will become concerned citizens. ‘’We really believe helping kids learn about the environment will change the way society interacts with the environment in the years to come,’’Taft said. Universities and colleges must transform many aspects of higher education, to allow students to comprehend the necessity of sustainable living. In order, to promote sustainable development in our society, we need to educate our students on the importance of sustainability. Parents can help teach children about the environment by creating and label recycling bins at home and, participating in community cleanup events and making laudry products at home. The Three R mantra (Recycle,Reuse, and Reduce)is what should be applied by all students to ensure that the future becomes sustainable. This mantra must be evident in day-to-day life from the earliest days in school. When the Three R mantra is observed, the environment will be in equilibrium, and life will be good for the people living on the planet(Goemaat). This can be achieved by implementing sustainable practices and theories in higher education institutions and helping kids to learn about the environment will change the way society interacts with the environment (Matharu, et al).

Schools have a great role to play in training children on sustainability and living a sustainable life; they are significant contributors to preparing children to create a sustainable future because sustainability education is about equipping individuals with the skills, capability, and drive to plan and manage change. Higher learning institutions should train students on how to use sustainable resources to promote sustainable education in their fields of study.It is essential to educate children to take full responsibility for their actions and contribute to sustainability at school (Chapman). Students will be able to develop knowledge, skills, and drive for action to obtain this knowledge. When students are imparted with the knowledge about sustainability and the  recycling mantra, they will more effectively  manage their future. Teachers play a crucial role in forming, changing and establishing attitudes and values. As a result, the teachers will need knowledge about sustainability. They are expected to be experimental and participatory while also using the local environment and community to teach science to promote sustainable education (Paige). Children will then be able to think critically about their experiences and push for change properly. Instructors must be mindful of their values when it comes to sustainability and sensitive to the topic .

Education for sustainability aims to address the root causes of non-sustainable trends. Today's pupils live in a challenging world where the environmental system is complicated, and all living things rely on it for survival. Students must always be taught about sustainability because it is the only way to survive in a world where pollution is increasing every day. When students are imparted with knowledge about sustainability, they become responsible for

push for change properly.

Children need to be exposed to the natural world while still in school to learn how to interact with it positively. Daily interactions with nature, for example, have been shown to reduce stress and anxiety while also increasing children's self-control and performance. (Spero). Children are like little, sponges; they have an extraordinary capacity to absorb information from the environment. By simply explaining the difference between recyclables and non recyclabes is a good starting point. Before long, they will get the hang of it.Tossing items into the proper bins will become second nature to them. When the children learn about sustainability, they will be able to preserve the future and make sustainability a habit that will make life better in the long run (Arizona Republic).

Communities today are compelled to move away from their current state of unsustainable societies and toward a more environmentally sustainable future. In the initial study, it was said that sustainable development is a dynamic and self-motivated process that enables individuals to identify their potentials and improve their quality of life while also protecting and improving the environment and ecological system(Julie Kennelly) . The use of an integrated four-pillar approach to promote and improve sustainability in society is referred to as the four pillars of sustainability education: cultural enthusiasm, economic advancement, environmental accountability, and social fairness.

The primary goal of sustainability education is to identify the commitment to preserving a dynamic community with thriving local economies, a healthy and sustainable environment, and a diversified culture. As a result, the four pillars create an understanding through which community members analyze concerns and concentrate on tackling and addressing problems, eventually providing a blueprint for effective decision making that elaborates upon the developmental stages. Every pillar in sustainability education has been designed with a pattern that provides a distinctive perspective on community challenges (Kennelly).There are four main pillars with distinctive patterns in sustainable environmental education that are frequently partnered to form an urban fabric.

According to research done in five countries, the United States' curricula did not reference sustainability education principles or pedagogical practices (Sablan).

Instead, the curriculum emphasized specific facts and notions that paralleled pro-environmental behavior, such as recycling and reusing(Sablan). As a result, the current US curriculum treats the environment as a backdrop for students to care for, save, and experience rather than working holistically for environmental improvement. Preschools in the United States are primarily focused on educational pre-literacy and numeracy skills, which have been identified as a barrier to incorporating pro-environmentalist and sustainability values in curricula (Engel).

Sustainability is critical to make the world a better place, and that is why more studies must be done to ensure all students within the USA gain knowledge of sustainability. Sustainability education has only recently been added to early childhood education courses. Early childhood environmental education was established in the United States in the 1990s to instill a sense of respect and concern for the environment in children (Arizona Republic). Meanwhile, with the current rise of kindergartens, early childhood teachers have focused on adopting advanced eminence, creative sustainability and environmental education.

This transition has encompassed both planned and unplanned environmental encounters and explicit sustainability education methods such as reusing classrooms. On the other hand, education on sustainability--which combines traditional environmental education with children, teachers, and communities working jointly and democratically toward resolving environmental questions, concerns, and problems--is less common. Despite a growing amount of literature on sustainability education, it is not currently regarded as a fundamental aspect of environmental education in the United States.

To ensure long-term viability, the next generation must address questions about the values of early childhood education. In the daily activities, teachers struggle with prioritizing individual social aspirations. Children's rights are commonly associated with ideas of care, ethics, and democratic values. Because sustainable learning is so important, there are specific requirements that must be accomplished before all children can participate in sustainability education at different levels. To begin, it is essential to recognize that Early Childhood Education(ECE) is a component of lifelong learning. As a result of this awareness, every child should get years of prime ECE before starting school. Lifetime learning is often thought of as education only after the traditional school years have passed, but that is not the case with sustainability education.

The second requirement , awareness, requires skilled personnel. Education leaders must understand sustainability in a broad sense--it is insufficient for them to get a suitable education for the learning of children. All adults who work with or engage with children must be well-educated, both in terms of child knowledge and awareness of sustainability issues, as well as learning about sustainable development. In practice, this condition separates quality. This means that the entire world, as well as every individual, must assume responsibility for early childhood education guaranteeing that kids have access to compliant Early Care Education professionals. Instructors need a variety of skills and adult interaction to be successful with the youngest age groups. As a result of this, early-kindergarten staff require the same amount of training as schoolteachers. The third requirement is the creation of long-term curricula. We maintained that Education for sustainable development(ESD) encompasses not just environmental but also socio-cultural and economic concerns.

Sustainability lessons are the most instrumental ways of ensuring that children grow to become environmentally responsible and achieve higher heights in environmental conservation. Colleges and universities should establish sustainability goals through institutional commitment, create administrative positions dedicated to sustainability, advocate for student interest and participation in sustainability efforts, implement sustainability training and education through cross-campus collaboration, produce sustainable infrastructure, and continue to develop sustainable infrastructure.They should also continue to examine and monitor sustainability on campus with sustainable infrastructure. Higher education institutions emphasize the necessity of developing students who are global citizens and critical thinkers. Educating children about the necessity of living sustainably could result in people with critical and global viewpoints, which would be a positive development in our world.