Using the Zero-Waste Circular Economy Module in Elements of Environmental Health

Tomoyuki Shibata, Northern Illinois University

Course Description

Analysis and control of current environmental health problems. Discussion of the effects of environmental factors on human health, and the organization and administration of environmental health programs.

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

2.5 hours/week course. in the week 8 module: solid waste

Integrating the Module into Your Course

I introduced the BASIC module into my environmental health course, which is an interdisciplinary course integrated with the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) and the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). The course already has a module for solid waste, so it was very easy for me to adapt to the waste audit exercise. The students had conducted a Sustainable Lifecycle Project focusing on a product of their interest at the end of the semester. So by then, student have already learned about various environmental health and other issue from coursework, so they were able to see products in different stage from multiple perspectives.

What Worked Well

For the course-specific exercise, this is an extension of the common exercise. The students prepared the proposal to make a difference, including stakeholder interview, SWOT analysis, and other things that contributing to the SDG.

Challenges and How They Were Addressed

I don't think there was a major challenge for students because they're more familiar with SDG and various environmental health issues. But some of the students found the stakeholder interviews to be the most challenging because it was not easy to make a point with those stakeholders. They have a busy professional workday schedule.

Student Response to the Module and Activities

Overall, they seemed to enjoy SDG-related coursework since they could see the big picture from individual actions.