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by Ryan Manders

People’s view of the earth and how people should treat it has been rapidly changing in the past few decades. There has been a lot of pressure recently by people to make companies and organizations more green, or environmentally friendly, and many people are changing their daily routines so they too can be more green. Many of these things that people are changing are very simple things in everyday life and the only reason they are able to do it is because they are aware of what is going on, what can be done to help, and why that will help. The key word here is aware, that is all it takes to be able to make a difference. It is something as simple as being aware but there are so many people that are not aware of the sudden importance of being green and this is why I think students, before high school and during high school, should be required to take courses teaching them about environmental sustainability and basic environmental science classes. 

Currently many schools have your basic biology and an elective or something that is required. This does not mean that students are going to learn from those classes why it is so important to protect our environment and what they can do in everyday life to make a difference. These may seem like simple concepts to some, like of course wasting food means more food needs to be ship in and faster which uses fossil fuels which pollutes our environment and causes deforestation to get those fossil fuels. But to some people, possibly in more urban areas, do not understand this but it can easily be taught and understood. Again it comes to the word awareness. If people are aware of what they can do to help with very little effort, why not do it. 

Of course having these courses does not mean everyone will take away the intended goal but it will make much more of a difference and will shape younger students much more effectively than what is currently being done. Students will be exposed to topics that are becoming big issues in our world much earlier. If these topics and concepts start to become important to students in high school they can take this home and make other family members aware as well. It can so easily spread to others as it is just making others aware. 

With so much focus being put on the sustainable use of our resources and our environment it is important to educate people at young ages. There are so many things by which people can help and make a difference and it all just takes awareness.