Sustainable Development

I think that education on sustainable development is great, but why is it only on the curriculum for geography?
I know that it has nothing to do with some subjects like training to become a nurse, but it does with some other subjects like, for example, business. In business you could learn about how businesses can be sustainable, like ways to cut down on waste and increase recycling.
I suppose that it is a good thing that that people are learning about it, as after all we are the next generation, and we are learning about sustainability issues that arise in everyday life, that will be useful knowledge when making everyday decisions, and learning about the consequences and effects of those decisions.
But it should be on the curriculum for students in high school, as sustainable development is a big issue at the moment, with global warming and landfill sites over flowing. But why stop at just educating young people about it? Older people who are not in education can be taught about it as well. Maybe they can be sent leaflets or e-mails on sustainable development, or maybe there could more TV programs on it.
Having studied the module “Learning for sustainable development” my feelings about it are it is a very useful module to study, as the issues that arrive in it are becoming important issues within today’s society. For example, learning about various methods of transport, and the ways people get about. Currently I am doing a project on how students get to park campus, and I have found out that the majority of students get here by travelling in a private car on there own. Researching into this means officials can do more to promote more sustainable ways of travelling to the campus.
So overall I think learning about sustainable development is a good thing as it is going to help save our planet, as people become more aware of certain issues, and learn about ways they can reduce there carbon footprint.

bad crunch good crunch?

I think that good things can come from this recession. The world as a whole is using a lot less oil which is good because it means reduced co2 emissions, which will reduce global warming. Also because we are using less oil, there is less demand for it and therefore the price of it decreases. This is good for motorists as petrol and diesel prices drop, which helps motorists out who are struggling financially during these difficult times.
Oil is currently below $30 a barrel where during the summer it was around $130 a barrel.
But there are a lot of bad things that have happened during the credit crunch, and I think the negatives definitely out weight the positives. The unemployment rate for the UK is increasing. It was 1.92 million between September and November 2008, which was up by 131,000 from the previous three months. This is the highest level of unemployment in the UK since September 1997. This doesn’t help getting the country out of recession as people won’t have much disposable income which means they won’t spend as much therefore contributing to more redundancies.
The exchange rate for the sterling is decreasing, both the euro and American dollar has dropped. The exchange rate in the summer was £1=$2, but now £1= $1.4. This is also bad for the economy as it will cost more to import goods, therefore increasing the prices of the goods.
So overall I think that the credit crunch is a good thing for the environment. As we are using less fossil fuel, as manufacturing has decreased, and less lorries are on the road transporting these manufactured goods. But it is a bad thing for the population, as there are redundancies, which means there are people out there who cant afford to pay the rent, mortgage and bills, and even provide food for there family. Even though the credit crunch hasn’t affected me, I think the sooner we come out of it the better.