Quick Chat Interview with Tim Grant, Co-editor, Green Teacher Magazine by Willi Paul.

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Quick Chat Interview with Tim Grant, Co-editor, Green Teacher Magazine by Willi Paul.

What green songs, symbols and stories are you using creating / promoting these days at Green Teacher?

None actually. Our focus is to share the most innovative ideas for educating young people, inside and outside schools, about the natural world and environmental issues. Those ideas come to us from adults around the world, who work at nature centers, in schools and parks, etc.

Is not the sustainability movement a cry for the next level of human consciousness? How do you define evolution in 2010 on out?

Yes it is. I'm not good at predicting the future, but clearly this movement will continue to grow and have more of an impact in the face of negative climate change and other challenges.

I think Jack Capitalism and Eli Sustainability are headed for a blow-out, down and dirty fist fight in the months ahead? What’s in your crystal ball?

It has already begun, and the experimental efforts on so many fronts are teaching us alot about what sustainability will look like.

Is sustainability like a new religion?

Not quite, as there are so many variations. It is too vibrant, and un-dogmatic to become a religion.

We made it!! The Green Movement is a success!! What do you see now in your home town, Tim?

For the past ten years a large waterfront wind turbine has greeted half a million train and car commuters entering the city from the west side each day. Most large buildings are cooled by cold water pulled from the depths of Lake Ontario. Hundreds of homes in our downtown west neighbourhoods have photovoltaic panels feeding electricity to the grid and solar water to their home's residents, as a consequence of a bulk purchase solar project I coordinated three years ago.

What are the top five causes in the green youth movement as you see them?

Reducing consumption is the most important. Environmental justice is another. Beyond that, waste reduction, including composting and recycling, is the most common.

What metrics are you using to measure the impact / effectiveness at Green Teacher Magazine?

The impacts of anything in education are hard to measure. Ditto for an environmental education magazine. But apart from anecdotes shared with us by our regional editors, contributors and those who order books and subscriptions over the phone, the number of times our articles are reprinted in newsletters and other magazines and books is another measure of our magazine's influence and impact.

Do kids benefit from social media and video games? How do you incorporate electronic media?

Few educators incorporate electronic media as of yet. In the early days, they discouraged its presence in schools. But this is starting to change as teachers recognize that teens and pre-teens use social media to help define who they are and make sense of the world around them. Innovative educators are starting to tap into this, and use lots of social media in their teaching.

Connections –

Tim Grant, Co-editor
Green Teacher
Green Teacher Magazine
Tim at greenteacher dot com
95 Robert Street
Toronto, ON M5S 2K5
(416) 960-1244
US address (for mail only)
PO Box 452
Niagara Falls, NY 14304-0452