Why reinvent the wheel? This section includes links to existing pollution prevention (P2) educational materials -- to online curricula and activities developed by experts to promote P2 themes in classrooms, youth groups, and individual studies. These innately multidisciplinary resources are categorized by:

• P2 subject area (Search for links related to a particular subject area using specific keywords listed below); and
• Age appropriateness - lower elementary, upper elementary, and middle school

They are also designated as being either:

• Curricula - modules, teaching plans and programs; cohesive packages; or
• Activity - single, standalone activities ready to incorporate into existing lesson plans or to fill a time slot

Subject Areas:

The links for this section contain activities and curricula for each of the Subject Areas described below.

Sustainable Agriculture

Agriculture is a multidimensional industry with many P2 opportunities including organic and precision farming, composting, and alternative "crops" like wind farming. Issues can range from manure disposal, to noxious weeds, to use of pesticides and fertilizers, to vehicle selection and maintenance, to tilling methods. Information resources for agriculture address the question of how to produce the highest quality produce and livestock with the least negative impact on soil, air, and water quality.

Air Quality

Smog, acid rain, global warming, radon, molds, household chemicals, allergies, and asthma are all issues relating to air quality. Air quality resources address how both indoor and outdoor air quality impact lives and the environment. The resources also offer facts, alternatives, and solutions to air pollution issues.

Energy Consumption

Dependence on foreign oil and air pollution are both minimized when automobile usage is decreased. Fewer new power generation plants are needed when electricity consumption is reduced. Energy conservation is one of the most basic and easy to implement pollution prevention strategies. Energy links teach how types of energy and their expended amounts cause pollution. Also offered are energy conservation options.

Waste Management

The United States produces up to one third of worldwide waste, with waste growing faster than the population! The most cost-effective, environmentally sound, and socially responsible way to deal with waste is to prevent it in the first place. These links promote waste management at individual and community levels through the "three Rs'," where reduction, reuse, and recycling/composting are first options and proper disposal is a last resort.

Industry and Trade

Along with the need for environmental literacy, pollution prevention, and sustainable lifestyles, job options in these areas are expanding. These links describe modern careers in fields that help prevent pollution as well as describe how these fields are changing.

Consumer Education

Pollution prevention begins with what we buy. If enough people consistently buy products with less packaging, more manufacturers will reduce packaging--resulting in reduced waste. Environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) is choosing "...products or services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services..." Source: About Environmentally Preferred Purchasing, EPA. These resources teach how to become an environmentally aware shopper.

Transportation

The transportation infrastructure (including trucking, shipping, railroads, airways, and pipelines) is linked to all aspects of modern life, but is not currently sustainable. It uses more energy, land, and raw material resources and produces more waste than our world can continue to produce or absorb. Information resources about transportation teach the effects of transportation choices, including the types of pollution they create.

Water Quality

Water is life. It covers 3/4 of the earth and makes up 2/3 of our own bodies. It is integral in the creation of weather and the cleansing of air, land, and plant and animal systems. Still, less than one percent of this key resource is usable fresh water. These links "facilitate and promote the awareness, appreciation, knowledge, and stewardship of water resources" Source: Project WET.