E72 – Greening ELT: Addressing Sustainability in the English Language Classroom (with Harry Waters)

In this episode, co-hosts Shé and Anna sit down with climate activist, teacher trainer, and founder of Renewable English, Harry Waters, for an energizing conversation on integrating environmental sustainability into English language teaching. 🌱🌍Harry shares how his early activism and global teaching experiences led him to reimagine ELT as a platform for climate awareness, youth empowerment, and project-based learning. From fifth graders launching school-wide recycling campaigns to international litter-picking initiatives, his stories show that students don’t need permission to make change—they just need space to act. 🚮📚Whether you’re teaching beginners or advanced learners, Harry offers practical and empowering tips for embedding sustainability into everyday lessons—not as a one-off Earth Day unit, but as a consistent, student-centered context for meaningful communication. 💬💡 Reflect with us:What’s one small shift you can make this week to model sustainability for your students?How can you transform your classroom into a space where environmental agency is possible?What’s a “local” issue your students care about that connects to a global theme?How might you use a grammar point (like conditionals) to explore real-world topics?🧰 Resources & Tools:Renewable English – Harry’s platform with free resources for climate-focused ELTActivities for a Green Mindset – Harry’s book with 30 adaptable projects and lessonsUN Sustainable Development Goals – A flexible framework to ground student inquiry🧭 Related Episodes:E 44 - Global Citizenship: Opening the view to the possible (with Brantley Turner)E 27 - Why we <3 project-based learning E 21 - Addressing current events in the classroom🎙 This episode is sponsored by Ellii Use code THINKALOUD for 15% off your first membership term. Admins can also request a two-month free trial to pilot Ellii for your program.#GreeningELT #EnvironmentalEducation #ClimateInELT #SustainabilityInEducation #ReflectiveTeaching #ProjectBasedLearning #YouthActivism #TeacherThinkAloud #ESL #EFL #GlobalCitizenship #ClimateAction #SDGs #ELTCommunity