Education for sustainable development (ESD) and sustainability education are more than formal lessons in textbooks—they shape our everyday decisions and behaviors. Whether we’re choosing meals, picking what to wear, managing household waste, or deciding how to commute, the information we encounter outside formal school settings influences how we live sustainably. This article explores how learning sustainability through everyday life transforms knowledge into action—touching home, food, fashion, gardening, and mobility.
According to UNESCO, ESD empowers people with the knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, and behaviors to live in ways that are good for the environment, economy, and society. It encourages responsible decision-making that contributes to a better future for all.
Sustainability education—and its close relative environmental education—aims to support individuals at all stages of life to understand and act on pressing sustainability challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, and inequality. It is a holistic process covering cognitive (what we know), socio-emotional (how we feel), and behavioral (what we do) dimensions of learning.
Unlike traditional subject-based curricula, sustainability education encourages real-world learning that connects global issues with everyday life and empowers learners to make informed choices that benefit people and planet.
For many, this education unfolds outside formal classrooms through daily interactions with information—like the sustainability label on a product, a documentary on food systems, or a community workshop on clean energy. These informal and non-official learning moments help shape the habits and mindsets that determine our daily behavior.
Home is where sustainability education first takes shape. Everyday habits like conserving water, reducing waste, and choosing energy-efficient appliances are direct applications of sustainability learning in daily life.
Simple actions like turning off lights when leaving a room, sorting waste correctly, or choosing reusable products reflect what many of us have learned informally or through community messaging. These make a measurable difference in reducing our carbon footprint and conserving resources.
Examples of practical sustainability habits at home:
These practices help internalize sustainable behavior and create a culture of responsibility within households. Over time, mixed messages from advertising, family norms, and community values interact with sustainability concepts to form habits that matter in the long run.
Our daily meals connect us with complex environmental and social systems. Food decisions influence water use, land use, greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity. Sustainability education helps us understand these links, enabling informed choices that reflect personal values and planetary needs.
In schools, garden-based learning has shown compelling results in increasing children’s awareness of nutrition, food systems, and environmental stewardship. These programs often encourage children to try fresh fruits and vegetables they grow themselves, fostering meaningful engagement with healthy, sustainable diets.
Tips for applying sustainability in food choices:
By integrating sustainability into daily food decisions, individuals learn that choices made every day—like buying local produce or using reusable shopping bags—add up to tangible environmental benefits.
The global fashion industry has significant environmental and social impacts, from resource extraction to labor practices. While formal sustainability training isn’t widespread in this sector yet, everyday exposure to media narratives, influencers, and brand transparency efforts shape how consumers think about fashion sustainability.
Sustainability education—informal or formal—helps us:
When individuals learn the impacts of their clothing choices, they’re more likely to adopt less consumption-driven, quality-focused habits. This represents a shift from consumer culture toward mindful, sustainable living.
Engaging with nature through gardening is a powerful form of sustainability education. Garden-based learning connects learners of all ages to where food comes from, the basics of ecology, and the value of biodiversity. It bridges cognitive learning and emotional connection to the natural world.
Benefits of gardening as sustainability education:
Whether at home, in community spaces, or through school programs, gardening strengthens our relationship with the environment and reinforces the link between everyday actions and larger ecological systems.
Mobility habits—how we travel every day—carry significant sustainability implications. Choices about walking, cycling, using public transport, or driving have environmental consequences like carbon emissions, air quality effects, and energy use.
While formal curricula may address mobility through topics like climate change education, everyday information—city campaigns, public transport apps, community bike programs—also influences how people move.
Sustainability education supports behavior change by encouraging:
Through daily life, people internalize mobility choices that align with sustainability principles, showing how learning does not end in classrooms but continues through lived experiences and urban environments.
Sustainability education isn’t limited to any age group—it’s a lifelong learning journey. From early schooling to adult experiences, learning sustainability shapes behavior at multiple levels.
Research shows that higher education levels are strongly associated with sustainable lifestyle practices—such as energy conservation, use of recycled goods, and waste reduction—across many countries.
Moreover, sustainability learning impacts behavior change in measurable ways. Individuals who learn about environmental issues are more likely to adopt sustainable practices like recycling, conserving energy, and choosing eco-friendly products.
While much of sustainability learning happens individually, community and social contexts amplify impact. When families, neighborhoods, and workplaces engage in sustainability discussions—whether through local workshops, online communities, or collective activities like community gardens—social learning takes place. It shapes norms, fosters cooperation, and reinforces sustainability values.
For example, community gardening often involves shared responsibilities, collective decision-making, and mutual learning—connecting sustainability education with social cohesion and empowerment.
The goal of sustainability education—whether within formal institutions or through everyday life—is not merely to repeat habits, but to cultivate a culture where sustainability becomes a default approach to living. This transformation requires ongoing learning, reflection, and adaptation.
When individuals grow up with consistent messages about sustainability—at school, home, and through media—their choices become embedded with values that support environmental stewardship, social equity, and long-term well-being.
Sustainability education is more than a classroom subject—it’s a life skill that shapes how we think, feel, and act. Daily exposure to sustainability information—from product labels and social media to community events and dialogues—reinforces lessons that guide everyday choices. Whether at home, in what we eat, wear, grow, or how we move, learning sustainability through everyday life empowers individuals to make decisions that benefit both people and planet.
By connecting formal knowledge with daily behaviors, sustainability education becomes a transformative force—shaping habits, societal norms, and future generations’ capacity to live responsibly and creatively in a changing world.
Study on education levels and sustainable behaviors across countries.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-35173-w