Singapore Green Guardians Blog
Environmental literacy, community action
Green Guardians lesson series are the only plug-and-play curriculum materials designed for elementary grades that cover core subjects through an environmental and climate change lens.
Students explore the idea of “composting” as a way to recycle organic waste. They define compost, talk about what can and cannot be composted, and learn how they can help reduce waste sent to the landfill by turning certain food scraps into homemade fertilizer.
In this 40-minute lesson, students explore the idea of “composting” as a way to recycle organic waste. They define compost, talk about what can and cannot be composted, and learn how they can help reduce waste sent to the landfill by turning certain food scraps into homemade fertilizer. It is possible to compost both inside and outside the home by choosing the right size and type of bin. Red worms are also an option for speeding up the process of decomposition.
This lesson can be taught with the lesson series below:
Hi, welcome to The Poppy Podcast. I’m your host, Poppy. In this episode, I talk to Michael Newman, an environmental scientist who studies the impact of air pollution on people of different races, ethnicities and income levels.
Transcript
Poppy:
Hi, welcome to The Poppy Podcast. I’m your host, Poppy. In this episode, I talk to Michael Newman, an environmental scientist who studies the impact of air pollution on people of different races, ethnicities and income levels. We will explore how air pollution disproportionally affects low-income families and people of color.
(dial tone)
Poppy:
Hi, Michael. Thank you for speaking with me on this very important matter. We all know that air pollution can cause severe health issues like asthma, heart disease and lung cancer. Does air pollution affect some people more than others? Who exactly are these people? What does your research tell you?
Michael:
Hi, Poppy. Thanks for having me. Well… air pollution, intensified by climate change, does affect people differently. Many studies show that children, the elderly and people from low-income families are the most affected. Those living close to sources of pollution like fossil fuel power plants are also more vulnerable to air pollution related health problems. And when we look at people’s exposure to air pollution based on who they are — like their race, ethnicity and income level — we find that people of color have a much higher exposure rate than white people.
Poppy:
Why do you think people of color face disproportionate exposure to air pollution?
Michael:
Well, this is a result of systemic racism in this country. Racism, discriminatory housing practices and real estate costs have pushed people of color into areas that are more polluted. Fossil fuel power plants that contribute to fine particle air pollution tend to be located near disadvantaged communities because of low land costs and regulatory loopholes.
Poppy:
This is so unfair! These communities are the least prepared to cope with long-term health problems like asthma and cancer! How can they afford the extra medical bills?
Michael:
You hit the nail on the head. Low-income communities are even more susceptible because they don’t have access to proper medical care, healthy grocery options, and safe working conditions. Many people have to work outdoors in heat or on smog days, which increases their exposure to ozone and particulate matter pollution.
Poppy:
And I guess it is not easy to take sick days, either. You painted a very grim picture. Is there any hope at all for disadvantaged communities? What can we do to address these problems?
Michael:
The short answer is yes. There certainly is hope; 28% of the coal-fired power plants operating right now are scheduled to be retired by 2035. But this isn’t enough. More power plants that run on fossil fuels need to be closed. The conversion to clean energy needs to be accelerated, too. To protect public health, higher standards need to be set for pollutants like nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides.
Poppy:
A lot needs to be done. I think we should all take an active role in shaping air pollution-related regulations that affect the well-being of our communities.
Michael:
Absolutely.
Poppy:
That’s all we have time for today. Thank you for listening to The Poppy Podcast. I’ll see you next time.
A carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases released into the air when we use energy – to cook food, ride a bus or watch TV. Each person makes about 4 tons of carbon per year just going about their daily lives. Imagine how much more energy a farm or factory uses!
A carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases released into the air when we use energy – to cook food, ride a bus or watch TV. Each person makes about 4 tons of carbon per year just going about their daily lives.
Imagine how much more energy a farm or factory uses!
Chocolate has one of the highest carbon footprints of plant-based foods in the world.
Chocolate takes more energy to produce than coffee, pork, or chicken. The cocoa industry makes over 2 million tons of greenhouse gases per year.
To make room for more cacao farms, thousands of acres of rainforest have been cleared.
Rainforests trap carbon. But when the trees are cut down, this carbon is released as carbon dioxide and adds to global warming. Animals also lose their habitats.
Up to 40% of a cacao crop is lost every year to disease. Farmers often overuse pesticides or fertilizer. This pollutes the water and soil, and creates an unhealthy environment for the locals and wildlife.
One healthy cacao tree produces enough beans to make only 10 regular size (1.5 ounces) chocolate bars per year!
Cacao trees require lots of water. It takes almost 30,000 quarts to make two pounds of cocoa beans. About 10,000 quarts are used just to transport and store these two pounds of beans on their long overseas journey to a factory. That’s a huge water footprint!
Cacao beans travel thousands of miles before chocolate-making can begin. Bags of beans get to port by truck. There they are loaded onto ships and sail from the Cocoa Belt to factories mainly in Europe and the US
Cacao then goes through a long process of roasting, grinding, and blending before it’s poured into blocks and sent to chocolate companies and bakeries.
Other ingredients in chocolate production increase the carbon footprint such as milk powder, sugar, and palm oil to make milk chocolate. Rain forests are cut down to make palm oil farms, and dairy cows make methane gas. Dark chocolate uses more cocoa and cocoa butter, which means it needs more beans.
Chocolate uses more plastic in its packaging than other foods. Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Halloween all have their own wrappings.
People give boxes of chocolates as gifts. Bite-sized chocolates are often wrapped in foil or placed inside a plastic tray in a fancy box tied with a bow. This wrapping is not recyclable and ends up in the landfill.
Farmers in West Africa have been seeing low average yields in recent years, and it’s hurting them.
Farmers in West Africa have been seeing low average yields in recent years, and it’s hurting them.
To understand why this happens, we must first understand how cocoa is produced. Cacao trees are best grown in areas with high humidity, abundant rain, rich soil, protection from the wind, and steady temperatures. As a result, they can grow only in the tropics, 10-20 degrees north and south of the equator, in South and Middle America, West Africa, and tropical Asia.
With the increase in demand for cocoa, farmers have cleared more forests to make room for cacao trees.
Careless deforestation affects the biodiversity of the land and causes the soil to erode.
Eventually, the land cannot grow as much as it used to, or it produces nothing at all. Since farmers don’t grow enough cacao, they are forced to clear more land to grow more.
Deforestation also means an increase in greenhouses gases in the atmosphere, which will trap more heat and cause average temperatures to rise all over the world. Changes in temperatures, as we learned earlier, is not a good thing for cacao trees. It affects the farmers’ yield and productivity, and there are more pests and diseases. All these factors directly affect farmers’ income.
Farmers’ actions not only harm the Earth but also harm themselves. So, what now?
Studies have shown that cacao trees thrive in rainforests. Cacao trees grow in full sun to partial shade. They need at least 3 hours of direct sunlight, but if there is no shade at all, the sun will scorch their leaves.
Planting cacao trees among forests, fruit trees, and other crops is a good way to keep cacao farming sustainable. The soil retains its nutrients, land doesn’t need to be cleared, and cacao farms can produce more beans.
Perhaps an increase of these practices will help cacao farmers meet the demands of the chocolate industry.
Good morning. I’m your host Poppy, and you’re listening to The Poppy Podcast. We are pleased to have Jack Sullivan with us today. He’s an environmentalist who’s been working with cacao farmers in West Africa. Tell us why you’re there, Jack.
Poppy:
Good morning. I’m your host Poppy, and you’re listening to The Poppy Podcast. We are pleased to have Jack Sullivan with us today. He’s an environmentalist who’s been working with cacao farmers in West Africa. Tell us why you’re there, Jack.
Jack:
Well, there have been lots of scary predictions that chocolate is going to disappear off the face of the Earth in 30 years. I’ve been helping local cacao farmers and chocolate companies to make sure that that doesn’t happen.
Poppy:
What do you tell them?
Jack:
That cutting down the rainforest to make way for cacao farms is not the answer. Cacao trees are small and need shade. They can be planted in the rainforest.
Poppy:
I understand that farmers who grow only cacao are taking a risk.
Jack:
Yes. I teach farmers to practice biodiversity. They need to plant something else between their rows of cacao trees.
Poppy:
What’s good to plant?
Jack:
Banana and cassava trees work well. The additional crop keeps weeds down, so cacao farmers are more likely to stop using pesticides and use organic compost instead of chemical fertilizers. Those chemicals end up polluting the land as well as the freshwater supply.
Poppy:
Should cacao farms be organic?
Jack:
Oh yes! We teach organic farming methods. For example, instead of using fertilizer, we show farmers how to grind up the bean pods as mulch. The recycled pods are spread around the trees. This is a natural way to improve the fertility and health of the soil. It keeps weeds down, too.
Poppy:
What about that white sticky stuff around the beans? What happens to it?
Jack:
You mean the pulp? While some of it is necessary to ferment the beans, the unused pulp is often thrown out and wasted. I show farmers how this pulp can be sold for jams, sweets, and drinks.
Poppy:
What is your advice for the chocolate companies?
Jack:
Well…They need to replant trees and bring back the rainforest. Did you know that Ivory Coast has lost 80% of its forests since 1960? And that chimpanzees are in great danger because this is their habitat? that chimpanzees are in great danger because this is their habitat?
Poppy:
But through all of this you still have hope?
Jack:
For sure. It is in the interest of chocolate companies to work hard to stop deforestation so that cacao has a sustainable future.
Hello and welcome to The Poppy Podcast. I’m your host, Poppy. Today, I’m speaking to Veronica Hui, who runs Bittersweet, an ethical chocolate company that goes the extra mile to guarantee the quality and fairness of its chocolate bars.
Poppy:
Hello and welcome to The Poppy Podcast. I’m your host, Poppy. Today, I’m speaking to Veronica Hui, who runs Bittersweet, an ethical chocolate company that goes the extra mile to guarantee the quality and fairness of its chocolate bars.
(dial tone)
Poppy:
Hi, Veronica. How are you? Thank you for speaking with me about chocolate!
Veronica:
My pleasure. I can talk about it all day. Chocolate is my favorite thing in the world.
Poppy:
Can you tell us about Bittersweet, and how it came about?
Veronica:
Sure. Back in 2010, I decided to make chocolate that’s true to its taste, no additives or flavoring, no milk, and very little sugar. But I realized that the quality and variety of cocoa I could get in the U.S. was limited. There were only a handful of chocolate manufacturers that I could purchase from, and I was not impressed by any of them.
Poppy:
What did you do then?
Veronica:
I did some research and found that I could buy cacao directly from farms in Ghana. So, I started making trips to Ghana, searching above and beyond for farmers who were interested in producing high-quality cacao beans. The farms I partner with now are great at organic farming. That is, farming without using pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Their careful fermentation process brings out the natural flavors of cacao beans!
Poppy:
Does this mean that you don’t have to deal with any middlemen?
Veronica:
Oh yes! We have a very short supply chain. We pay the farmers twice as much as the market price, and the beans are processed locally before being shipped to us. We have pretty much eliminated the extra costs when cacao traders and big manufacturers are involved. .
Poppy:
Is that why your chocolate is still reasonably priced?
Veronica:
That’s right. There are no other ingredients but sugar and cocoa butter. Hence the name, Bittersweet. When you eat our chocolate, you can actually taste the fruitiness of our cacao beans. Another thing that keeps the cost down is packaging. I went for the simplest and greenest packaging available. No fancy tin cans or silk ribbons for that matter.
Poppy:
Well, Veronica. Thank you so much for telling us about Bittersweet. I hope more chocolate companies do what you do. Keep up the good work!
Veronica:
You’re welcome.
At the Chocolate Festival, Bruno and his friends learned about chocolate production. Now they want to start a chocolate company that is fair to everyone in the supply chain.
At the Chocolate Festival, Bruno and his friends learned about chocolate production. Now they want to start a chocolate company that is fair to everyone in the supply chain.
You will join Bruno and his friends on a WebQuest in starting a fair and sustainable chocolate company. What chocolate product will you make together?
What practices will you adopt for a sustainable chocolate business and why? Consider:
Your task is to do research, answer questions, and help Bruno create a chocolate product for his company.
To understand the issues related to each part of the supply chain, you will take on a role and explain a problem from that person’s point of view in the chain.
Then you will create an advertisement for Bruno’s Chocolate in which text, pictures, and/or videos will show what the company stands for and why people should buy this product.
Work in small groups (2-4 students) to research your role in the chocolate supply chain. Use the resources listed under your role. Write out answers to all your research questions and agree on them.
Our relationship with chocolate began thousands of years ago. Over time, chocolate spread from the Americas to Africa to Asia. Today, the supply chain can barely keep up with demand. Many problems have grown up around chocolate production. Choose a role and start your research.
Cacao Farmer
A cacao farmer grows trees whose fruit is used to make chocolate. It is important to know the cost of cacao farming so we can understand how it affects the farmers’ health, income, and environment.
Use the links below to learn some key facts about the life of a cacao farmer. Answer the following questions:
RESOURCES
Cacao Farmers Struggle to Meet Demands of the Chocolate Industry
Fair Trader
A fair trader works with farmers and workers in the developing world to ensure they have good working conditions and get paid a fair price for what they produce, in this case cacao. It is important to know about fair trade partnerships so we can meet the full cost of producing products like chocolate.
Use the links below to learn some key facts about the work of a fair trade advocate. Answer the following questions:
RESOURCES
Environmentalist
An environmentalist is someone who works to protect the environment. It is important to know about the work of environmentalists so we can understand how to sustain Earth’s resources and cut pollution.
Use the links below to learn some key facts about the work of an environmentalist in the cacao industry. Answer the following questions:
RESOURCES
Manufacturer/ Retailer
A manufacturer processes the cacao beans and turns them into big blocks of chocolate that are bought by chocolate companies. These companies or retailers then turn the chocolate into products like candy and sell them to customers in a shop. It is important to know the role of manufacturers and retailers so we can understand the complexity of the chocolate supply chain.
Use the links below to learn some key facts about chocolate manufacturing and retailing. Answer the following questions:
RESOURCES
Play a Crossword Puzzle to see how you have learned about chocolate production through your research.
Form groups of 4 with representatives from each role and share information.
Play the Jungle Gym game to assess your understanding of practices in the chocolate industry.
Brainstorm ideas for an advertising campaign for Bruno’s Chocolate.
Discuss the Big Questions.
Other discussion questions for the advertising campaign:
Design an advertisement campaign for Bruno’s Chocolate explaining what makes it sustainable and why people should buy it. The final product can be a short video, a presentation, a skit, etc. Each group will have 5-8 minutes to present.
Give a 5-8 minute group presentation on Bruno’s Chocolate. Use the rubrics below to rate your own performance.
Hello and welcome to The Poppy Podcast. I’m your host, Poppy. In my new series, “On the Ground,” we speak to people all over the world who do important work. Today we’re calling a cacao farmer from Ghana in West Africa where most of the world’s chocolate comes from. Let’s find out what happens on the ground…
Poppy:
Hello and welcome to The Poppy Podcast. I’m your host, Poppy. In my new series, “On the Ground,” we speak to people all over the world who do important work. Today we’re calling a cacao farmer from Ghana in West Africa where most of the world’s chocolate comes from. Let’s find out what happens on the ground…
(dial tone)
Poppy:
Hi, Kofi! Thank you for agreeing to speak with me. How are you today?
Kofi:
Not so good. Something happened at the cacao farm this morning. I am devastated.
Poppy:
I’m so sorry to hear that. Would you like to share what happened?
Kofi:
We discovered that almost a third of our trees have developed a disease. Many of the cocoa pods are covered in small dark spots causing them to rot and shrivel. It’s a horrible disease called Black Pod. They must be treated; otherwise, we could lose the trees.
That’s a third of my harvest gone! I’ll be able to sell only a fraction of what I usually do. I don’t know how we’re going to survive––we already have so little. I’m hoping that the disease doesn’t spread to the rest of farm, for then I’ll be left with nothing. It’s going to be a very tough year.
Poppy:
That’s awful. How much cacao do you usually produce each year?
Kofi:
I used to produce about 32 sacks of beans, which is about two metric tons. In the past couple of years, I’ve been producing fewer sacks. I think the soil is no longer as fertile as it used to be. I cannot afford to spend money on fertilizer, so there’s nothing much I can do.
In a year, my farm makes at most 30 Cedis (about USD$5) a day. I have to pay the farmers that work for me. I have to feed my family, too. That leaves us each with about 3 Cedis (USD$0.50) each person, a day. My twelve-year-old son helps on the farm. A few of his friends work for me too––they are not as expensive to hire.
Poppy:
Do they work on the farm after school?
Kofi:
No. We cannot afford to put our children in school.
Poppy:
I see…
Kofi:
I have to go now. I must go back to work.
Poppy:
Thank you so much for sharing your struggles with us, Kofi. I want to help. We’ll keep in touch.
Kofi:
Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you. Goodbye!
Does fair trade work? How much of a difference does it make, if any? Please welcome Brian and Ellie who will share their thoughts on the value of fair trade. Let’s start with Ellie. Tell us about fair trade.
Host:
Does fair trade work? How much of a difference does it make, if any? Please welcome Brian and Ellie who will share their thoughts on the value of fair trade. Let’s start with Ellie. Tell us about fair trade.
Ellie:
Thank you for having me.
Brian:
Likewise!
Host:
Let’s start with Ellie. Tell us about fair trade.
Ellie:
Farmers and workers who join fair trade cooperatives agree to follow certain sustainable practices. This leads to certification and the right for their products to carry a fair trade label. Consumers are encouraged to purchase items with a fair trade label in order to help the industry.
Brian:
But labels don’t tell the whole story. Fair trade certification is a long and hard process. It costs money and these expenses come out of a farmer’s earnings. The poorest farmers can’t afford to participate, which defeats the purpose of “fair trade”.
Ellie:
Hold on. There are many benefits to fair trade, and the fees are affordable. They cover the costs of people who make sure that cacao farmers get a minimum living wage when the markets fall. These fees are used to teach sustainable farming methods. Money also goes towards improving community services like education, job training, and healthcare. Everyone wins.
Brian:
Well, it’s not easy to monitor if the funds are truly being used for these purposes.
Host:
Let’s talk about working conditions.
Ellie:
Fair trade makes sure every job is open to both men and women. But child labor is not allowed. It works with local authorities to keep children off the farms and out of the factories.
Brian:
That’s all very well to say, but there is evidence that child labor is still happening, even on fair trade cacao farms in West Africa. Labor shortages, poverty, and school closings give children no choice but to work.
Host:
Now, let’s talk about prices. There is no doubt that the benefits for the growers and workers will raise prices along the supply chain. What about the costs passed to consumers?
Ellie:
We all like fairness. We also like to see the “little guy” succeed. Fair trade focuses on the small producer. Many customers are willing to pay more for products made ethically––with people and the environment in mind.
Brian:
I disagree. It’s all about the bottom line. If you can buy a “regular” chocolate bar for half the price of a “fair trade” bar, which do you think people will choose? The market for fair trade products is people with higher incomes.
Ellie:
And just what do you think is in that cheap chocolate bar? Lots of sugar, vegetable oil, and little to no cocoa! Dealing directly with farmers and cutting out “middlemen” keeps prices down and allows us to keep its quality in check. This is how we make a difference in the lives of producers.
Host:
And that’s all we have time for today. Thank you both for a lively discussion!
