Sustainable Packaging Lesson Plan Resources

Over the past tow years, numerous resources have been published about sustainability and even sustainable packaging. Below are relevant resources, both new and old, that were incorporated into classroom lessons during this unit.

Please note that even though sustainability is more encompassing than merely being “earth friendly” most people (and industries) use the word sustainable they use it to mean “green,” “earth friendly,” “environmentally friendly,” etc. However, this thematic unit used the definition of sustainability as defined by the United Nations:

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The UN further clarifies that there are three components or pillars of sustainability: “economic, societal, AND environmental demands.”

(http://www.unngosustainability.org/CSD_Definitions%20SD.htm)

In laymen's terms, if a decision is better for people, profit, and the planet then it is a more sustainable option. Often this definition is referred to as the “triple bottom line”. Frequently, this definition is represented by a Venn diagram made of three overlapping circles. Their intersection in the middle represents sustainable choices.

Resource Option 1: Facing the Future

If students are unfamiliar with the “triple bottom line” concept of sustainability, it may be helpful to use a lesson that you can download for free from Facing the Future. Go to www.facingthefuture.org. Search for the lesson titled “Is it Sustainable” for grades 7-12. Also, for additional reading download “Unit One” from the book Facing the Future: People and the Planet - It’s All Connected. Chapter two titled “Understanding Sustainability and Resources”, on pages 8-11, is especially applicable.

Resource Option 2: Graham Pike

In Graham Pike’s book In The Global Classroom (Book One) is a lesson titled “Managing Packaging”. The lesson asks groups of students to place the packaging of specific items along an x-y axis. One axis is labeled “amount of unnecessary packaging” and the other “potential for re-use/recycling”. This is an excellent lesson and an excellent book. Please see any major bookseller to purchase this title (ISBN 0887510817).

Within this lesson you can ask the question - What are two ways that packaging can be more sustainable? (Have less packaging, make packaging recyclable)

From the Graham Pike lesson you see that the most sustainable packaging is that with the least amount of unnecessary packaging and the highest potential for recycling. 

Industry refers to using less packaging material as source reduction. Packaging engineers are constantly challenged to design packaging that reduces material, thus making packaging more sustainable because it is now better for the environment and saving their company money. Using less materials means less costs. 


1. Brainstorm ways to make one or two of the packaging examples in the Graham Pike lesson more sustainable

2. Encourage students to think of the broader sense of sustainability (using the UN definition.) How does/could your suggested improvement help the profit for a business? How does/could your suggested improvement help people? 



Source:
Graham Pike & David Selby. 1999. In the Global Classroom 1. Toronto: Pippen Publishing Corporation at 11.

Resource Option 3: Teaching Engineering

1. Warm-up: As a class, complete “Section I” on the handout from www.teachingengineering.org titled “It’s All in the Packaging - It Doesn’t Add Up Worksheet”. 

2. Complete “Section II” of the same worksheet. “Section II” is titled “More than Juice”. If printing the handout from the original online lesson I suggest skipping questions a and b from this section. This means that you will not use the final column of the chart. 

3. Discuss the following question with the class - “Which type of packaging do you think is most sustainable?” If students are reluctant to share as a whole class, have them first discuss their ideas with a partner. You will come back to this question throughout class.

4. Ask the question - What are two ways that packaging can be more sustainable? (Have less packaging, make packaging recyclable)

5. Wrap-up the lesson with a summary of the main points about sustainable packaging. 



Vocabulary:

• Sustainability
• Source reduction