Module 5 - Tread Gently: Go Green
Ideas and activities for youth groups
Creatures from ants to antelopes, ear wigs to elephants all leave footprints behind marking where they have been. For the ants and earwigs the impressions may be fairly light, but antelopes and elephants leave tracks which can be more easily seen. A footprint is not the only mark left on the environment by an animal's activity. Ants build anthills, earwigs appear unsolicited in apples, antelopes can be prolific grazers and elephants can make leave their mark whether crashing through the undergrowth or appearing on Blue Peter!
Humans, like animals, also leave a mark on the environment. Like animals, they can leave footprints showing where they have been, with those wearing 'Doc Martens' leaving a deeper impression than those going barefoot. Humans, like animals, also leave an impression as a consequence of their activities. Actions from switching on a light to littering the street, running a tap to travelling by car, all leave some form of impression on the environment. This is known as our environmental footprint.
The 'Tread gently – go green' module is an aid to assessing the environmental footprint of our activities and considering ways in which we can tread more lightly on the earth.
Download Module 5 (.doc, 117kb)
Additional materials
Youth work resources with an environmental theme from Eco-Congregation and other organisations
Note on using the modules
The Eco-Congregation modules have been designed to fit into church life and support and enhance church mission. They were designed collaboratively with churches to provide a resource that is not a textbook, but a toolkit, to suit all the different varieties of church life represented in the Eco-Congregation programme.
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