China has several towns which are famous for the production of particular items, just as cities in the UK used to be connected with particular industries e.g. textiles in Manchester, hats in Luton etc.
SHEIN is one of the most popular websites for buying low cost (and therefore low quality) items.
There is a town in China which dedicates a great deal of manufacturing to producing items for this website.
This is a useful video describing the impact this has:
Thanks to Fiona Sheriff for the lead to this particular video.
China has several towns which are famous for the production of particular items, just as cities in the UK used to be connected with particular industries e.g. textiles in Manchester, hats in Luton etc.
SHEIN is one of the most popular websites for buying low cost (and therefore low quality) items.
There is a town in China which dedicates a great deal of manufacturing to producing items for this website.
This is a useful video describing the impact this has:
Thanks to Fiona Sheriff for the lead to this particular video.
It is a certificate 12 so useful for older KS3 and above students.
Directed by Emmy-winning writer and filmmaker Nic Stacey, Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy “pulls back the curtain on the world’s top brands, exposing the hidden tactics and covert strategies used to keep all of us locked in an endless cycle of buying—no matter the cost.”
Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy “grants viewers exclusive access to the secretive world of the richest and most powerful brands”, including Apple, Amazon and Adidas. “Stunning revelations from insiders and whistleblowers reveal everything from billion-dollar marketing machines to the design ploys and psychological tricks intended to manipulate consumer behaviour on a global scale. With a playful and subversive style, the film takes audiences on a wild ride through the dirty world beneath the gloss and glam, where nothing is quite as it seems—while arming them with life-altering insights to protect themselves from the tricks of the trade.”
Director Nic Stacey said, “ My hope is that when people watch the film, they realize that we can take back control. While the subject is inherently dark, I wanted to present it in an honest and entertaining way—emphasizing that as consumers, it’s not always our fault. Here’s how we can break the cycle.”
The 2024 School Essay Competition, organised in partnership with the Financial Times, invites students to answer the following question:
Drawing on information from your daily life, what sustainability action points would you prioritise?
Include no more than ten key ideas and justify your choices. Use accompanying information from the FT and other sources. This resource will be useful as a starting point.
A clear essay or ArcGIS StoryMap which is well-evidenced and reaches a clear conclusion Submissions that do not exceed 1,000 words (excluding references) - submissions over 1,000 words will not be considered. The word count should be provided in the document. Referenced sources of information and data Submissions which are the entrant’s own work and relevant to the question and guidance
Our 2024 School Essay Competition, organised in partnership with the Financial Times, is calling for entries from geography students aged 16-18 and inviting them to share their ideas in response to the following question:
I ended a busy first day of term yesterday by joining the other presenters at the GlosGeog Virtual Primary Teachmeet, organised by Emma Espley. I caught a few other presentations before I had to go to an after school INSET session. Thanks to those colleagues who gave up their time to join us.
As it was taking place on Earth Day, the general theme was Sustainability.
Here's the presentation that I used.
I referenced a few things that might be helpful:
- an article I wrote for Primary Geography talking about our work in KS2
- Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics work - including work in Amsterdam
“In Greenland, we make all our money from fish and from tourism. For a long time, I have wanted to find something else that we can profit from.”
Malik Rasmussen
A surprising story in the Guardian on a new project, and one which has attracted quite a lot of criticism from some quarters.
Its co-founder Malik V Rasmussen said the ice, which has been compressed over millennia, is completely without bubbles and melts more slowly than regular ice. It is also purer than the frozen mineral water usually used in Dubai’s ice cubes.
From the LinkedIn page
Imagine having the purest and freshest ice in the world straight from the untouched glaciers of Greenland. Nature has formed our ice over millions of years with no pollutants or contaminants. Once harvested, it is immediately packaged and shipped to ensure the highest quality for our customers. Our ice can be used for cooling drinks, preserving food, creating beautiful ice sculptures, and more. By purchasing our ice, you will enjoy its exceptional quality and support sustainable and ethical practices in our harvesting process.
The Washing Machine Project was founded in 2019 by British, ex-Dyson, Engineer Navjot Sawhney. After leaving Dyson, he moved to South India to make cookstoves with Engineers Without Borders UK, where he met his neighbour Divya. Divya's struggle with everyday tasks inspired Navjot to find a solution. He promised her a washing machine, and when he went back home, he developed the first prototype.
Excellent @thewashorg on local news tonight - check out https://t.co/lRqvpShsT5 to add an extra updated element to those teaching about @Gapminder Hans and the 'Magic Washing Machine' video - great work!
Since then, The Washing Machine Project has conducted ethnographic research in 17 countries, interviewing over 3,000 families, including Uganda, Jamaica, Nepal, India and the Philippines, to gain insight into their washing tendencies. The Washing Machine Project has partnered up with some of the most prominent international NGOs, such as UNCHR, Save The Children, Oxfam, Care International and Plan International.
The Washing Machine Project has successfully carried out pilots in Iraq and Lebanon and received orders from multiple countries in excess of 3,000 washing machines. In 2023 The Washing Machine Project’s plans are to fulfil these orders and scale up across numerous countries.
The Washing Machine Project has the vision to create a world-leading organisation, which brings together Innovation, Research and Development to solve some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian and development challenges.
By providing displaced and low-income communities with an accessible, off-grid washing solution, our mission is to empower women with the time to take charge of their lives.
This would make a great addition to the work we do on Han's Rosling's 'Magic Washing Machine' TED Talk, to explore a sustainable alternative to washing by hand. Great work!
— Canadian Geographic Education (@CanGeoEdu) May 6, 2023
The Canadian Geographic Education website now contains a whole range of new resources which reference the work of King Charles III on the environment over the years.
A BBC Radio 4 programme which explores the area of fast fashion, which is something we explore with Year 8 students.
People online are debating whether contestants from ITV’s Love Island should be signing mega-bucks deals with clothes companies that sell people stuff cheaply and often - so-called fast fashion. Others claim it's a bit rich for the well-off to lecture everyone else about what's in their wardrobe? We’ll look at how fast fashion got turbo-charged, see if the stats on climate change and fashion add up, explore how fashion and social class have interacted over the years, and ask if “sustainable fashion” is an oxymoron.
Thanks to the Dress Code shirt team for the tipoff here.
From the design desk to the shop window, how do fast fashion brands deliver the latest trends in double-quick time? Evan Davis and guests discuss fabric, factories and a nimble supply chain.
“The bold stripe design, which features on the sleeves of the new home shirt, was first created by the University of Reading’s Professor Ed Hawkins in 2018. Each stripe represents the average temperature for a single year, relative to the average temperature over the period as a whole; shades of blue indicate cooler-than-average years, while red shows years that were hotter than average. And the stripes on the home shirt specifically track climate change in Reading across the full 151-year existence of Reading Football Club.
“The shirt itself is made from Eco-Fabric – 100% of which comes from recycled plastic bottles. That innovation is part of a wider series of initiatives undertaken by our Official Technical Partner as part of their ‘Macron 4 The Planet’ campaign, which is committed to introducing new eco-sustainable products the the market.”
Everything happens somewhere. That’s geography. It’s hard to think of any problem or opportunity that exists, that doesn’t contain an inherent value or have a geospatial value. Geography is social, a form of visual communication, and maps are incredible sources of storytelling.
If you want to unlock the endless possibilities of geography and the mystery of map-making, all you need is your curiosity and creativity (and a laptop, if you like) - and to come to this class. With Paul Naylor and Charley Glynn, visual data design consultants for Ordnance Survey, you will be taken through the theories behind the art of cartography, as well as how maps can be the foundation of any narrative - helping you to convey your message quickly, clearly and with great impact.
Year 7s are moving on from food topic to exploring music festivals, and their impacts on the environment. This will revisit some ideas on map skills, and also sustainability. I am going to use a combination of a unit from Vicki Woolven, and one which is on the RGS-IBG website (with some updates for this year's event)
Over 120 000 tickets for this year's event were sold in just 36 minutes, at £250 a ticket for the 3 main days of the Festival (with days either side of course for many) The main festival website has plenty of information, including
This year, there is a ban on non-reusable plastic bottles.
Here's a brief reminder of the last Festival, in 2017, and the highlights - The Killers and Goldfrapp were memorable for me...
Today we've launched a NEW #plastic take-back initiative, where customers can bring back any non-recyclable plastic packaging and we'll give it a new purpose by turning it into playground equipment and more! Read here: https://t.co/UVoSVGuIOBpic.twitter.com/bTWiSi9p3y
