Using the Zero-Waste Circular Economy Module in Energy and the Environment

Zana Cranmer, Bentley University

Course Description

Energy is part of everything we do every day. Energy consumption is also the biggest contributor to air pollution and global warming. This course presents a systems approach to understanding energy consumption and its links with environmental and human health and well-being. It emphasizes using knowledge of these systems to identify and choose among alternative actions in both personal and professional contexts. Course units focus on different aspects of energy efficiency and renewable energy on the Bentley campus.

Explore the Zero-Waste Circular Economy Module »

Relationship of the Zero-Waste Circular Economy Module to Your Course

The course has two main topics areas: energy use and electricity generation. The module was implemented at the end of the energy use section as part of the unit on embodied energy. This unit focuses on how energy used throughout the supply chain and disposal of products. Prior to this unit, the focus is on energy use by the consumer who has purchased a product, so this expands the students thinking to all phases of the lifecycle of a product. Following the module, we discuss solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and nuclear power and the students are able to apply what they have learned to the supply chain and materials challenges in these industries.

Integrating the Module into Your Course

The module already fit pretty well with what I was doing in my classes. We talk about their waste, what they throw out, what they recycle, what they resell or give away, and what makes each of those items different. So, we get how they make those choices, what constraints they have on the choices that they feel like they have available to them. And this exercise really helps unpack all of that a lot more. I integrated the resell and giveaway piece, which is not baked into the module as much.

What Worked Well

I think it helps that some of the underlying concepts like wicked problems are featured throughout my course. So then when the students do team assignments, I tell them that there's no single right answer, there's better or worse answers. So, they're already familiar (with wicked problems) when we get to this module. I think it's also just an important way to approach the world. There's lots of problems that don't have single answers to them, but that's how some of the students are still kind of thinking about the world at this point. The SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) circle exercise also I think worked really well. The students started off saying like, "Well, I don't see how some of these things are connected. Some of them seem totally different and unrelated." And as we unpacked everything, we used the topic of electric vehicles and I wanted to start with the obvious things and then see where it took us. When we put everything together as a class, we had at least one connection with each of the SDGs around the circle. And then that showed up in the student's reflection assignment later on too. So, it stuck at least in the short term. So that was exciting.

Challenges and How They Were Addressed

I like the gallery tour activity a lot, but it does have some challenges to it. I think it can be challenging for the students to think across the sections of the process map when they're looking at it one phase at a time. Some students did make connections if they kept seeing the same idea or the same comments or the same suggestions popping up in multiple phases of the process map. And the students also seem to sort of run out of steam as each circle in the tour progresses. So, the last station they get to after a few other teams have worked on it seems to be particularly challenging. They have a hard time expanding on what's already there. So, there may be ways to mix that up a bit and not necessarily do full tours around the room for each question. Especially if you're pressed for time. Maybe that's a good way to make it a little bit shorter too, where you just have them do a subset of the phases and then it mixes it up.

Student Response to the Module and Activities

I think the students responded really well to it. The waste audit gets them thinking about their waste and how they're making those choices. They don't have composting in their dorms or apartments. Some of them don't even have recycling in their apartments. Either their building doesn't offer it or their roommates don't want to sort their waste which makes it difficult to impossible for them to do it. I think it helps them think about the constraints that they face even if they want to do it. As I mentioned before, I think the SDG exercise seemed to be particularly helpful in getting them to see connections and they still have been persistent. In all my courses, I want the students to tour away understanding that environmental efforts are not separate from financial, economic, health, and social systems. They're all connected. They can act together or in conflict with one another depending on how you set things up and how you approach it. So, climate change and saving the planets are not the only reasons to change our energy system and those aren't the most compelling reasons for some people. But other arguments like reducing costs and reducing negative health impacts do resonate with those people.