Pennsylvania 4-H virtual program to teach kids to curb carbon appetite

People may not always pay attention to how their daily actions impact the environment — but a statewide virtual 4-H program will aim to teach students about how activities as simple as packing a lunch can have environmental consequences.

With a program dubbed Curbing Our Carbon Appetite, students will from across the state will learn how they can reduce their carbon footprints. The program is hosted by 4-H — a non-formal educational youth development program of the United States Department of Agriculture. In Pennsylvania, 4-H is administered by Penn State Extension.

The Curbing Our Carbon Appetite program has been offered in in-person classrooms across the state over the last several months, reaching about 1,800 Pennsylvania students.

On July 15, it will move to a virtual format, where 4-H students grades three through six can participate via Zoom, said Jennifer Covey, an extension program assistant for 4-H and youth development.

“Our last event is kind of our last hoorah,” Covey said. “We’re going to be doing a live virtual teaching of it through Penn State’s platform.”

The event includes five interactive challenges and games, Covey said. Participants will be instructed to purchase a small list of supplies for the program.

“The supplies will be for building their own Atmospheric Model that demonstrates the effect of carbon emissions in our atmosphere in stages of current, increased and decreased, and participants will learn what each of these mean in terms of activity of agriculture, business and industry and individual and family,” Covey said.

Participants will also learn how something as simple as what they eat for lunch can impact the environment. For example, items with less packaging or recyclable packaging are more environmentally-friendly than those that use extra packaging materials. Mostly plant-based diets are more carbon-friendly than diets consisting mostly of meat. Through the Carbon-Friendly Lunch Challenge, students will use an online carbon food calculator to compare lunch options and determine which ones are best for the environment.

Students participating in 4-H programs can register online for the Zoom event, which is free to participants.

The program was sponsored through a grant from Bayer.

According to a press release from 4-H, the program will teach students to “explain how human activities increase atmospheric carbon and contribute to climate change, plan a carbon-friendly meal by selecting foods with low carbon footprints, identify carbon-friendly actions that agriculture, business and industry, and individuals and families can take to reduce atmospheric carbon [and] identify STEM and agriculture careers that connect to the environment and to carbon reduction.”

Covey said they’re hoping for about 500 participants. In Butler County alone, she said, she anticipates that about one third of their 250 4-H members may participate.

The program will be taught by 20 teen leaders from 4-H chapters throughout the commonwealth, Covey said.

Participants must register by July 9.