Economics
Paper, plastic, glass, and cardboard are all items you put in a special bin to be processed and turned into new materials instead of going to a landfill.
What is recycling?
This 2008 Pixar animated film portrays a solitary robot left on a trash-covered, abandoned earth, acting as a warning about environmental neglect and consumerism.
What is Wall-E?
Electric vehicles (EVs) produced by companies like Tesla and BYD run on large rechargeable packs made of this lightweight metal element, commonly found in phone batteries.
What is lithium?
Headquartered in New York City, this international organization was founded in 1945 after World War II to maintain global peace and security.
What is The United Nations (or UN)?
Trees and plants pull this major greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis and store it, helping slow down global warming.
What is carbon dioxide?
This term describes cheap, trendy clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers, which leads to massive environmental waste and unfair factory conditions.
What is fast fashion?
In 2014, this viral social media movement saw millions dumping buckets of freezing water over their heads to raise money and awareness for Aymyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research.
What is the Ice Bucket Challenge?
Instead of relying on coal or gas, these panels installed on rooftops convert direct sunlight into clean electrical energy.
What are solar panels?
Adopted by the United Nations in 2015, this set of 17 global goals serves as a universal blueprint for ending poverty and protecting the planet by 2030.
What are the Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs)?
Covering over 70% of the Earth, this massive body of water produces most of the planet's oxygen and is currently struggling with severe plastic pollution.
What is the ocean?
When consumers collectively refuse to buy goods or services from a specific company to force them to change unethical practices, they are participating in this form of protest.
What is a boycott?
This Swedish youth activist went viral in 2018 after starting the "School Strike for Climate" outside her country's parliament at age 15.
Who is Greta Thunberg?
Discarded electronics (e.g. old iPhones, broken laptops, unused chargers, etc) are known by this two-letter term, which makes up the fastest-growing waste stream in the world.
What is e-waste?
Adopted in 1948 and drafted by a team led by Eleanor Roosevelt, this foundational document outlines thirty fundamental rights that belong to every human being on Earth.
What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)?
Solar, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric power all belong to this class of energy sources that naturally replenish themselves faster than they are consumed.
What are renewable sources (or renwables)?
You can often find this seal on coffee, chocolate, and tea, certifying that the farmers and workers who produced them were paid fair wages and worked in safe conditions.
What is Fair Trade?
Known for his huge Youtube Channel, this creator made headlines by funding the planting of 20 million trees through the viral #TeamTrees campaign.
Who is Mr. Beast?
At just 18 years old, Dutch inventor Boyan Slat dropped out of university to launch this famous non-profit organization that uses solar-powered trash-clearing barriers to scoop plastic out of rivers and oceans.
Who/What is the Ocean Cleanup?
This 2015 landmark international treaty signed in France aims to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
What is the Paris Agreement (or Paris Climate Accord)?
Named after a famous English naturalist, this word describes the variety of all living organisms—plants, animals, and microorganisms—within a given ecosystem or on the whole planet.
What is biodiversity?
This Bangladeshi economist won the Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering "microloans:" giving small, low-interest loans to poor entrepreneurs (especially women) to help lift them out of poverty.
Who is Muhammad Yunus?
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, this 2021 Netflix movie used a giant planet-killing comet heading toward Earth as a direct metaphor for society's refusal to act on climate change.
What is Don't Look Up?
Generative AI models (like ChatGPT) require massive data centers that consume enormous amounts of energy and thousands of gallons of water per day for this specific temperature-control process.
What is (data center) cooling?
Held annually by the UN, this major international climate summit, where world leaders gather to negotiate emissions targets, is universally known by this three-letter acronym.
What is COP (Conference of the Parties)?
This iconic British scientist and chimpanzee expert revolutionized how we understand wildlife conservation through her decades of research in Gombe, Tanzania.
Who is Jane Goodall?