Teaching climate change or a Sharp sales technique?

The Greenwash Brigade

(Photo credit: Jared Flesher, New York Times’ Green Inc. blog)

As a former teacher, this Green Inc. article caught my interest and raised a red flag. Sharp Electronics Corporation employees are volunteering to teach 5th graders lessons on climate change and renewable power.

Without a copy of the presentation, I won’t give a thumbs up or down. Instead, I’ll share my concerns. Flesher commented that “The renewable energy portion of the presentation mentions several technologies — including hydro, wind, and ocean power — but solar quickly becomes the focus.”

That’s not necessarily bad, depending on the larger context. A lesson focused on solar power is appropriate IF the class had already learned about conservation, AND there are classes dedicated to other renewable energy sources. As a stand-alone, it’s simply self-interested marketing.

I also wonder about the presence of Sharp’s logo and products. Was the logo on every slide? They did hand out prominently branded solar calculators and notebooks at the end of class. Would Sharp still sponsor the program and send out employees to teach if Sharp had to be invisible?

At the moment, the scale of the program in the US is small, but it may not remain that way. This press release (opens PDF) notes that the lesson has been presented to 37,000 children in Japan, “visiting 537 schools in 2007 alone.” If Sharp has plans for similar scale here, I hope principals and teachers think carefully about how they use this “free” resource before accepting the gift.

To acknowledge where credit may be due, the comment (#26) from Sharp employee Chris suggests the lesson highlights conservation, and if employees are volunteering unpaid time to give the lesson, maybe they’d still do it if the logo were hidden.

The cursory description of the lesson plan sounds carefully thought out. The image of the planet with a fever is easy for kids to relate to. I love the interactive bit of powering a 60 watt light bulb with hand cranks - but wonder whether they also tried powering a CFL. (My internal lesson planner suggests 1) hand crank 60 watt bulb, 2) hand crank CFL, 3) test how many 60 watt bulbs can be lit by solar power, 4) test how many CFLs can be lit by solar power.)

Besides hearing readers’ opinions, I request some reader expertise.

How does this lesson relate to the latest research on brand choice? Does research show that this sort of exposure as a child subconsciously create brand-committed adults? Or does it show it’s unrelated?

February 3, 2009 by Janne K. Flisrand
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tags: education Sharp solar

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Meet the Greenwash Brigade

Our hand-picked environmental professionals, each part of the Public Insight Network, are on the hunt for "greenwash" as they examine eco-friendly claims by companies, governments and other groups. They ask tough questions about the mainstreaming of green, from the perspectives of people in the trenches who are focused on these issues 24/7.

Jim Nicolow is a nationally recognized expert on sustainable design and leads the sustainability initiative for Lord, Aeck & Sargent, overseeing the incorporation of sustainable design strategies and features into the firm’s design projects. He is a LEED® Accredited Professional with extensive knowledge of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED rating system.

Janne K. Flisrand has worked as an affordable housing and urban planning research consultant for five years, primarily supporting local non-profits. Her focus is on transit, transit-oriented design, affordable housing, and sustainability. Currently, she’s the program coordinator for Minnesota Green Communities, a program promoting affordable, healthy, sustainably built housing throughout Minnesota.

Dennis Markatos-Soriano recently completed a Master's in Public Affairs at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School. He is now launching Sustainable Energy Transition (SET) to help individuals and institutions move from dependence on oil and gas to an efficient use of renewables. Previously, he co-founded SURGE (Students United for a Responsible Global Environment), which aims to bring young progressives together across issues of environmental and social justice throughout North Carolina and beyond. In the summer of 2006, he helped to start a small green company, Greenway Pedicabs, to provide a greenhouse gas-free transportation option for people in the Triangle of North Carolina.

Heidi Siegelbaum is a principal with Calyx Sustainable Tourism and works primarily on advancing sustainable tourism practices. She also specializes in science translation, cross-border indicators with Canada, cross-disciplinary planning and environmental technical assistance to businesses. Previously, she was in-house legal counsel for EPA for industrial chemicals and biotechnology and the senior performance measure analyst with the Washington State Department of Ecology. She is on the technical advisory committee of the Seattle Culinary Academy and a long standing member of the Chefs Collaborative.

NOTE: The opinions expressed by the Greenwash Brigade bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of American Public Media or its employees. American Public Media is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the Greenwash Brigade bloggers.

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