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United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Communications,
Education, and Media Relations
(1704)
EPA-171-F-98-015
August 1998
nvironmental Education Improves
)ur Everyday Lives
Environmental Education Helps Ensure the Health
and Welfare of Our Nation By*:
• Protecting human health
• Advancing quality education
• Creating jobs in the environmental field
• Promoting environmental protection along
with economic development
• Encouraging stewardship of natural resources
Protecting Human Health
The link between environmental challenges and human
health is a major cause of public concern about the
environment. Lead poisoning from paint and pipes, air pollution, pesticides in water and food
supplies, increased threats of skin cancer from depletion of the ozone layer, and other
environmental and health issues are of growing concern to Americans, especially effects on
children and future generations. Environmental education can help prevent or mitigate
environmental human health problems by providing the public with information on die causes of
environmental pollution, how pollutants may affect health, how to assess real versus exaggerated
risks, and how to make informed and responsible decisions that prevent or mitigate the effects of
pollution on health.
This discussion is adapted from the
National Environmental Education
Advisory Council's "Report Assessing
Environmental Education in the U.S.
and the Implementation of the
National Environmental Education
Act," 1996 (EPA-171-F-96-001).
Obtain a free copy of the report by
contacting the National Center for
Environmental Publications and
Information at 800-490-9198 or
order on line at . The
document also can be viewed on line
at EPA's Office of Environmental
Education World Wide Web site at
.
Advancing Quality Education
Environmental education can
improve analysis and problem
Educators and public officials generally believe that
improvements are needed in the nation's public education system
to enhance student learning. Many educational scholars and
practitioners agree that students are not doing well at thinking,
reasoning, analyzing, or problem-solving. Many goals of
education reform emphasize the need to strengthen core subjects
such as math, science, and geography; teach across subject areas;
improve critical-thinking and problem-solving skills; and relate
learning in the classroom to the needs and issues of the
community. Environmental education has a tremendous potential
to contribute to these goals of education reform. For example, it
can strengthen teaching in many core subjects, especially science,
because science is the basis for solving many of our
environmental challenges. At the same time, environmental
education can promote interdisciplinary teaching because
environmental topics can be addressed from many different
perspectives, including scientific, historical, and cultural.
also bring local environmental challenges into the classroom to
-solving skills.
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Creating Jobs in the Environmental Field
Protecting the environment creates new jobs for
Americans. Employment opportunities in the
environmental field cover the spectrum of careers from
manual labor to high technology and management.
For example, there is an increasing demand for
individuals with specialized scientific and technical
skills to develop more effective pollution prevention
and control technologies in areas such as air pollution
control, environmental energy sources, hazardous waste
management, resource recovery, and instrument
manufacturing. Environmental education and training
can help ensure an adequate supply of well-trained
environmental personnel to deal with the nation's
increasingly complex environmental challenges.
Environmental education's emphasis on critical-
thinking and problem-solving skills equip learners in
dealing with rapidly changing technologies in the
workplace. Environmental education also opens new
economic opportunities as the U.S. exports
environmental skills and technologies to other nations.
Promoting Environmental Protection Along With
Economic Development
Our future depends on the ability to use the Earth's
resources sustainably. The United Nations World
Commission on Environment and Development
defines sustainable development as "meeting the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs."
Sustainable development poses two fundamental
education challenges. One is to promote informed
decisions that are conducive to sustainability. The
other is to teach the benefits of integrating
conservation with the need for economic development.
Environmental education contributes to sustainable
development efforts by demonstrating ways to promote
informed decisionmaking and teach the benefits of
linking conservation and economic development.
Environmental education research has identified key
strategies for developing education programs that lead
to responsible decisionmaking, and practitioners have
developed program models for incorporating a range of
perspectives into the resolution of issues. These
educational tools and strategies can be applied to
efforts to ensure sustainable development.
Encouraging Stewardship of Natural Resources
Interest in protecting America's natural resources,
including species and their habitats, arises from the
respect most Americans hold for our nation's past and a
belief in its future. This interest also stems from a
strong desire to protect and enjoy nature and to pass it
on to our children. There is a need to increase
understanding that the health of individual species can
be strong indicators of the health of the entire
environment and that biological diversity has ecological
and economic importance. Environmental education
enhances the public's understanding of the need for
healthy plant and animal life and biodiversity. It also
educates the public about how their actions affect
natural ecosystems and how positive steps taken to
minimize impacts on these ecosystems will translate
into improvements in our overall environment.
For additional information, visit the World Wide Web at
http://www.epa.gov/enviroed
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