What students are thinking – topic 1 – Environment
The number one topic that students are thinking about in the 2020-23-24 year, at least in my public speaking classes, is the environment, with 23 students covering it. This is the planet they’re going to be living on for a while, and they care about what’s happening.
They discussed climate change, global warming, plastic pollution, environmental conservation, renewable energy, recycling, fossil fuels, and airline gas in walkable cities.
Climate change – 6
Some research has shown that the production of red meat impacts on our environment by generating greenhouse gas emissions (Slotnick et al., 2023). The students are also concerned about our carbon footprint but offer solutions like renewable energy. Another area was pollution in general. This is a human-made issue that has become a political issue. They felt this was an urgent idea that needed to be handled immediately.
Other issues – 17
One student mentioned plastic pollution, but it has been consistent in previous terms. They relate to the Pacific Garbage Patch in the ocean, turtles with plastic straws in their noses, and aquatic life eating plastic like it is food, and then it shows up in human food. Some restaurants and stores are already using paper straws to mitigate this.
Environmental conservation was discussed, and they focused on deforestation and carbon footprint. I had one student who felt that big business, not the consumer, influenced this, but he did not have great resources supporting this.
Renewable energy is one of the main ideas or solutions, along with recycling. For renewable energy, they discussed the primary sources as wind and solar.
Fossil Fuels is a well-known polluter, but one student focused on airline gas and alternatives to create less pollution.
One student mentioned walkable cities. This idea is that you create environments where it’s easier for people to walk, meaning people are more concentrated in a smaller area and consolidate resources.
That is the end of my main ideas for my students who completed their call-to-action speech and public speaking in 2023 and 2024.
Are you surprised this is what the students were talking about?
Reference
Slotnick, M. J., Falbe, J., Cohen, J. F. W., Gearhardt, A. N., Wolfson, J. A., & Leung, C. W. (2023). Environmental and climate impact perceptions in university students: Sustainability motivations and perceptions correspond with lower red meat intake. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 123(5), 740-750. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2022.09.015