Are you a ‘good’ or an ‘efficient’ environmentalist? Turns out some of our eco-friendly actions aren’t as effective as we thought and should be stressed less about: recycling, energy efficient lightbulbs, turning off appliances, buying organic, plastic straws and packaging.
Not the End of the World aims to correct public misconceptions of the world’s seven biggest environmental problems. It begins high in the atmosphere looking at air pollution and climate change. Before moving to ground level to look at deforestation, food and biodiversity. And finally underwater to explore ocean plastics and overfishing.
Each environmental issue is introduced with a critique of a flashy ‘doomism’ headline previously featured in the news, on social media or within certain documentaries such as Seaspiracy – all of which have influenced public perceptions, and perhaps our teaching practice… Despite them being wrong!
The approach Ritchie takes to do this isn’t dissimilar to Factfulness, but given Hans Rosling’s early influence on the author this doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. Factfulness was one of the first books I read that really challenged my subject knowledge through the use of data. Not the End of the World takes a similar approach, but through a sustainability lens.
Sustainability is defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
United Nations (1987)
The definition of sustainability (outlined above) is a tale of two halves – an “unavoidable trade-off between the first and the second half. It’s human well-being or environmental protection. That means one must be prioritised over the other” (pg 18) – when in actual fact there are ways to achieve both! When it comes to the health of our planet, Ritchie believes if we were to focus on the big things that are really making a difference we may be the first generation to achieve sustainability.
It is here Ritchie’s academic approach, when it comes to data, is unique – she zooms out to look at the bigger picture. As Head of research at Our World in Data her job is about understanding what we already know, or could know if we studied the information properly.
As you progress through each chapter Ritchie emphasises the interconnectedness of each environmental issue, and how the solutions required overlap. It is here I think most readers will be surprised to learn that a number of these issues can be resolved by carefully considering what we eat, our agricultural practices and energy sources.
“Move to renewable or nuclear energy to improve air pollution and climate change; eat less beef to improve climate change, deforestation, land use, biodiversity and water pollution. Improve crop yields to benefit the climate and humans.”
Pg 291
What sets this book apart from anything I have previously read is the variety of geographical misconceptions contained in each chapter from biodiversity loss and palm oil plantations, to soil degradation and waste management. With many a geography curriculum featuring such issues, this book would play a pivotal role in updating such content.
Some of these misconceptions could even be delivered through enquiry based learning. Below are some enquiry question examples based on a selection of those featured:
- Would banning cars solve India’s air pollution? pg 54-55
- Should we consider the Amazon the lungs of our planet? pg 116
- What’s driving deforestation? pg 121
- Should we cut out palm oil? pg 126-132
- How long will our soils last? pg 144-145
- World hunger – can it be stopped? pg 156-161, 169-171
- Fact or myth: Eating local is better for the planet? pg 184-188
- Should the world go organic? pg 188-190
- What is the state of our wildlife populations? pg 193-195
- Will an insect apocalypse destroy our food system? pg 208
- Is recycling the answer to our problems? pg 230-231, 244-245
- Why does a large quantity of our plastic waste ends up in the ocean? pg 234-236
- “Plastic pollution can be solved by cutting back on plastic wrappers, ditching single use items and recycling” Discuss. pg 237-239
- How much plastic will be in our ocean compared to fish by 2050? pg 223-225
Overall Not the End of the World is optimistically written, accessible to most and worth the subject knowledge update.
Recommend age range: KS4+, with multiple extracts applicable to KS3
Mrs Geography 