Harry Potter and the 3 E’s of Sustainability 

by Rachel Brett

What does Harry Potter have to do with EFS? A lot, especially if you’re trying to teach kids about sustainability. As any Harry Potter fan knows, one of the most important lessons that Harry learns during his quest to fight evil is that he can’t do it alone. Although Harry may be the star of the books, he needs the help of his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, to ultimately triumph. Focusing only on Harry means that you’re looking at just one piece of a much bigger puzzle.

So what lessons can we take from Harry Potter? Well, when many people hear the word “sustainability,” their mind goes immediately to the environment. For many, sustainability means being “eco-friendly.”  The environment may well be the Harry Potter of sustainability, but it’s not enough. Instead, EFS must integrate the 3 E’s into how we define and understand sustainability. The 3 E’s are environment, economy and equity, and all three are essential and interconnected elements of EFS. J.K. Rowling builds this theme of interconnectedness into her books both explicitly and implicitly and makes it clear how vital it is for the heroes’ success. For example, Dumbledore repeatedly emphasizes to Harry and others how interdependent life is: what seems inconsequential or unrelated often has vast implications when the big picture is revealed. This concept is woven into the very fabric of the novels, as well. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that each small and seemingly insignificant action and event has consequences and reverberations on a much grander scale.

When we teach about sustainability, we need to teach people to look at it from multiple perspectives. Environmental health, social justice, and economic stability shouldn’t be at odds with one another—they are all critical components of the big picture of sustainability. If the problems we face are interdependent, then the solutions must also be integrated. As environmental justice advocates like Van Jones and Majora Carter emphasize, even the greenest idea in the world won’t solve our problems if it’s so expensive only the wealthy can access it. After all, it was the boy from under the stairwell, a muggle-born girl, and the son of a mid-level bureaucrat who together brought peace and justice to the wizarding world, not the elite, affluent Malfoy family. In addition, by embracing a vision that was diverse yet cohesive—not fragmented or divisive—Harry found unexpected allies in house elves and Centaurs. Adopting a similar scope through the 3 E’s, then, will not just ensure that our solutions are more holistic—it will also help unite people in constructing a society that is sustainable and equitable for all.

The students I work with understand this. I’ve heard fifth graders wax poetic about how a new technology isn’t sustainable unless it’s fair to all; how our ability to make change often depends on money but our ability to make money depends on the resources in our earth; how each of these concepts are just individual—but interlinking—pieces of that big puzzle. I’ve heard the same students discuss their favorite Harry Potter characters, and although some revere Harry while others may have “I love Ron Weasley” t-shirts in their closets, they all recognize that each character is only one part of the story. There is a lot more to Harry Potter that creates a complete, complex world encompassing the struggles of ordinary people trying to get by in an unfair world. Only by looking at the bigger picture can we understand that world; only by bringing together all the pieces can Harry and his friends save that world. These lessons apply to us as well: only by integrating the 3 E’s and the many pieces of our own big picture will we ultimately achieve our purpose of creating a more sustainable society ourselves.

Taken from Antioch University Official blog  Thank you Rachael 

The Indian Cow - An excellent example of Sustainabilty

We visited the Krishak Ashram couple of weekends back. Learned about the importance of cows and why/how cows play a very important role in our ecosystem and in our society.

COW-Pivot of Indian Society - Excellent example of why and how serves as an excellent example of sustainabilty. All the three E's Environment, economy and Euity or Society benefit from having cows - read on- 

Cow is an important and inevitable part of Indian culture and society and is interlinked in all walks of lives.

Cows play an important and unmatchable role in many segments of Indian Society.

1. Cows in Indian Household - Society/Equity

Cows have since eternity been part of Indian households. Most of the houses will have a Gau-shaala (cow-shed) mostly infront of their house.

A typical day used to start with Gau-pooja - paying respects to the Gau-matha and offering food and seeking her blessings.

It is most common in Indian house-holds even today (mostly restricted to rural areas)to apply cow-dung in front of each house. Many houses even now, have the floor laid with cow-dung to keep homes cooler.

Cow-dung as it is now scientifically proven, has high anti-bacterial properties and it protects from harmful radiations.

Cow provides milk and bi-products for the family.

2. Rituals and spiritual practices - Equity/Society

Cows are an inevitable part of any religious ritual in India. Gau with calf is looked upon as very auspicious and it is a practice to perform Gau-pooja on any occasion, especially on religious functions and spiritual practices.

In many Rituals like Yajna's, Gau-pooja / Gau-daan are considered integral for effective completion of the ritual.

3. Environment protection

Indian cows have the unique ability to absorb harmful radiations from the environment and they produce good vibrations, thus helping to cleanse the surroundings. 'Suryaketu' nerve on Cow's back absorbs all harmful radiations and cows body produces very serene energy which cleanses the environment.

Cow-dung possess very high anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties and is used in Indian households to protect from harmful bacteria and harmful radiations.

4. Cow-products as Eco-friendly Energy source - Environment/Economy

Cow -dung is an excellent energy source.

Dried cow-dung, is a good supplement for firewood. The same is a widely used for Fire rituals in Indian tradition.

Cow dung is an essential raw material in production of Bio-gas, a supplement for cooking gas. The Slurry from bio gas plant is an excellent fertilizer, which can be used to grow crops.

Through the above, cow is helping in decrease the use of firewood thus indirectly help prevent cutting down more trees.

5. Livelihood - Economy

Cow gives milk and other products, which in turn enables the owners to have a descent livelihood by selling the Cow-products

Milk - Milk is one of the staple food products.

There are many other food products which can be prepared from Milk

Butter, Ghee, Curd which are produced from milk are extensively used in Indian cuisine and is much in demand always.

All cow-products are widely used in Rituals and religious worship - for applying on statues of Dieties, for fire rituals (homa/yaaga).

6. Cow in Agrarian Society

Vast Majority of Rural Indian society are dependent on farming and related areas for their livelihood. This is referred to as an Agrarian society. Cow and Ox play a pivotal role in this kind of a society.

• Oxen are used for ploughing the fields
• Bull/Ox-carts are widely used as mode of transport.
• Cow-dung is used as Fetrilizer for the crops and also used as Firewood suppliment.
• Cow-urine and Panchagavya used as highly effective and efficient fertilizers.
• Cow dung is used as Energy source - Bio-gas prepared from cow-dung, Dried cow-dung are used for cooking purposes.
• Cow dung is also used to decrease the acidity of soil and also in water. Crops grown using only Cow-products (Organic fertilizers) are much in demand, and fetch very good/better price for farmers compared to crops grown using chemicals.

All the above substantiate the claim that Cow plays a pivotal role in Indian society and also helps provide Economical stability and financial independence to our society.

Documentary on me by makechange TV

Dear readers,

Greetings from me, I have been busy moving countries, and setting up a new venture. So sorry I have not shared anything in about a month. But please see this one:

I received this piece from Julie Tran at make change TV.  

http://www.makechange.tv/videos/eduvation-e-1-green-school-becoming-green-leaders-part-1-indonesia

She wrote to me -

Once again, I would like to say thank you for allowing me to film your class and having you on my film. I really feel that your passion for teaching came through the camera and for me, it's a blessing to be able to show it so thanks for caring and sharing :-) My best wishes, Julie