Nearly all Americans agree that sustainability is vital for our future and that they would like to become more sustainable in their own lives. Yet, many of us struggle to properly understand what sustainability really means.
The good news is that there are plenty of free and low cost resources that can provide a solid sustainable education and we’ve rounded up some of the best for you.
8 Free And Low Cost Sustainability Courses Online
You’d be amazed at the wealth of free and low-cost courses online for this subject area.
All of the courses listed here are free to sign up for and if you want the formal certificate, you might need to pay a nominal fee to get it.
- More on Change and Sustainability – University of Colorado – this course aims to help you learn to become a sustainable resource for any business
- The Science And Modeling Of Climate Change – University of Chicago – if you want to learn how to show the impact of poor sustainability on the planet this is a good place to start
- Environmental management for Sustainability – University System or Maryland – learn how to advise policy makers and stakeholders on a range of sustainability issues
- Sustainability Science – A Key Concept For Future Design – University of Tokyo – learn the theory and practice for designing to reduce risks to the ecosystem and create truly sustainable products
- Sustainable Energy – MITx – Learn how sustainable energy can be created and employed as well as how it impacts on society, politics and economies
- Environmental and Natural Resources Economics – DoaneX – Find out how sustainability can lead to a more prosperous society and why economics can drive a better approach to the planet
- Corporate Sustainability: Understand and Seizing the Strategic Opportunity – Bocconi – get to understand the UN sustainable development goals and how business can profit from meeting them
- Principles of Sustainable Finance – University of Rotterdam – many people assume that finance will be a barrier to corporate sustainability but it doesn’t have to be and this course will teach you why.
Some Free And Low Cost Sustainability Education Resources For Kids
Of course, if you have kids and you’re looking to get some useful resources to help them better understand sustainability, you probably don’t want to get them started on university courses like those above.
But there are some great resources which are open to kids too:
- The Sustainable Schools Project – a wealth of resources for both parents and teachers that deal specifically with sustainability
- Center for Ecoliteracy – a pioneering organization that does a lot of work with schools
- Children’s Environmental Literacy Project – a massive resource for kids, students and educators
- Facing the Future – a Seattle based curriculum aimed at middle and high school ages plus a bunch of free resources
- Sustainable Foundations – a guide to teaching the UN sustainable development goals to children
Some Free Resources On Sustainability Here On Whole People
Of course, we’ve got a bunch of excellent free resources for helping your sustainability education here on Whole People too.
These aren’t a substitute for the resources above, of course, but they’re pretty good for a quick 5-10 minute fix of sustainability education, if we do say so ourselves.
Here are four examples and you can find more by using the site’s search function:
14 Sustainable Thrift Shopping Tips & Tricks
A Guide to Sustainable Fabrics
We’re expecting the number of free resources to grow exponentially in the future too as more and more Americans, and people all over the world, opt for a more sustainable life.