Introduction

Past Experience Memories

My memories are on an excerpt that I read about the Gulf oil spill. The Deep water horizon started in the
Gulf of Mexico. The effects were devastating. It was considered to be the largest marine oil spill in the
world. The magnitude of the spill was far reaching, and it resulted in the death of 11 million people and
ended a lot of aquatic life (Brennan, 2013). The total size of the discharge was estimated at 4.9 million
barrels by the United States government.

The environmental disaster was caused by a host of factors. Some of the factors entailed the failure to
spot the leak early enough, lack of gas alarm among other engineering design flaws. However, judges
ruled that BP was to bear the majority of responsibility for the gas leak out of all the companies involved
due to their recklessness (Brennan, 2013).

The ordeal totally changed my perception of environmental sustainability. It kept me thinking of the of
the several things that could wrong as a result of an environmental disaster like the Gulf oil spill. It made
me re-look the assertions by Dangelicoand and Pujari (2010) and see the interconnection between several
things and the impact that one act of carelessness can have on the environment as a whole and affect
nearly everything at the same time. In the case of the Gulf-oil spill, the effects were far-reaching and
ended up affecting people and aquatic animals as stated by Solomon and Janssen (2010). People were
affected in a number of ways. It made me realise that everyone involved in activity should be concerned
about sustainability and the safety of the environment.

The Gulf oil spill affected so many industries that the local populace depended on for a livelihood. At the
peak of the pill over a third of the federal waters were closed to fishing due to the fear that the people
would eat fish that was contaminated. An estimated 8000 to 12000 people were rendered unemployed
following the spill. The ordeal also reduce the number of tourists since very few people had the gut to visit
the petroleum sullied beaches.

The experience has, therefore, taught me that just as Elliot (2011) insists, all the stakeholders must always
give a very careful thought to sustainability. In this case, several companies were involved, and each of
them should have been very careful to ensure that there were no any forms of design flaws that would
lead to such a disaster. If I were the British, petroleum, I would have taken responsibility for the spill very
fast and initiated measures soon enough to ensure that normalcy returned to all the sectors that were
affected by the spill instead of waiting for court action. Being responsible for the environment requires
one to take responsibility for their actions.

My second memory is about one of the biggest supermarket retailers in Australia that was using single
use plastic bags. The experience immediately reminded me of the toxicity to humans that result from the
use of the single use plastic bags in packing food for humans as outlined in the works of Orlitzky, M., Siegel,
and Waldman (2011). I thought of the toxins such as Pthalates and Bisphenol A which are known for
leaching from the plastics to the contained food or water. Besides that, people improperly dispose of the
single use plastic bags making them easy for them to find their way into water bodies where they continue
leaching the toxins for a long time to the aquatic animals since they are non-biodegradable.

The reading on the lack of the leading supermarket chain to use environmental friendly plastic bags made
me think a lot about shopping at such outlets. It made me again to reflect on the responsibility of all the
stakeholders in ensuring sustainability in all their activities. In this case, the supermarket and the end
users both needed to be very responsible for ensuring sustainability of the environment. If I were in the
shoes of Woolworths, I would ensure that all packaging was done using reusable plastic bags as Albino,
Balice, and Dangelico, (2009) contend. I would slowly introduce the vice and ensure that all the shoppers
got used to it.

Analysis of the two Memories

My teachers and the media had a great influence on my experience. Were it not for the teachings I had
gotten from my teachers on environmental sustainability, perhaps I would not have given the two
experiences any thought. Lessons from my teachers immediately made to think of the possible
environmental ills that involve the use of the single plastic bags at Woolworths. Immediately I had the
claim; I started thinking of the harm that is associated with the plastic bags to humans, animals and even
aquatic life as Orlitzky, Siegel, and Waldman (2011) argue. I would not have thought that way if I lacked
the basic background knowledge on sustainability and how to ensure that there is sustainability to assure
the success of the future generations.

The media coverage of the different stories on sustainability also made me appreciate the importance of
sustainability. It made me understand the importance that was attached to sustainability initiatives. The
media coverage of the Gulf oil spill in detail made me pick out the environmental sustainability issued that
were associated with the incident. It made me appreciate the interconnectedness of the environment and
how one incident can have an effect on all the living things. The coverage of the Gulf Oil spill made me
understand the importance of the carbon trade and why countries are adopting such initiatives. As
Johnson, Runge, Senauer, Foley, and Polasky (2014) states, countries have realised that if proper
interventions are not put into place, the effects of such incidents would be devastating to all the living
things on land and in water.

The environmental impact of the use of the single plastic bags by Woolworth was devastating not only to
human beings but also to marine animals. The single use plastic bags are non-bio degradable thereby
interfere ring with the beauty of the landscape. Besides, that they release toxins into food and water
which further contaminate the food that is taken by human beings. Besides that, since they are non-
biodegradable, they can easily find their ways into the water bodies if dumped improperly and release
toxins into the water which may result in contamination. If the humans and other animals consume such
the contaminated fish, they also end up picking the toxins. The effect is therefore devastating.

The Gulf oil spill led to the loss of jobs by so many people. Over 8000 people lost their jobs in the industries.
The Spill also resulted in the death of fish and other aquatic animals. The spill contaminated water which
resulted in orders that barred fishing at the time when the spill was at its peak. Besides, that there was
disruption of tourism since tourists were not willing to tour beaches that had been soiled by oil. The effects
for the two incidences are therefore far reaching on both land and water.

My environmental position was premised on sustainable development which is a development that takes
care of the need of the future generations. It, therefore, meant that British Petroleum and Woolworths
needed to be more careful with the environment. It was their responsibility to ensure that all their
activities were environmentally friendly. It made me agree with the assertion that environmental
sustainability should be a responsibility of all stakeholders. For instance, in the case of Woolworths, the
consumers are supposed to dump the single use plastic bags properly, and failure does that leads to more
pollution.

Having looked at the two experiences, I am now challenged even further on the issue of the environmental
sustainability. I now realise that environmental sustainability is a much bigger concept and must be given
very serious thought before deciding to use a given product, adopt a given production process or waste
disposal technique. This is mainly because the overall effect may stretch wide and may affect so many
things.

Teaching Practice/ Position

I now realise that the memories have a lot of implications for my teaching and practice. I must
acknowledge that part of the roles of the teachers is to teach their students to be responsible members
of the society. The memories of the impact of the activities at Woolworth and the Gulf oil spill, only mean
that I have to ensure that I impact into my students the skills needed to peacefully coexist with all the
things in their environment since as Martins et al.; maintains, there is a lot of interdependence between
people and the things in their environment.

As professionals, teachers are supposed to instill ethics and principles of good practice into their students
(Jickling & Wals, 2008). According to Lambrechts, Mul, Ceulemans, Molderez, and Gaeremynck, (2013),
students look upon their teachers as good examples and a source of inspiration. Teachers must there
ensure that they promote the principles of environmental sustainability into their students. This,
therefore, makes me come to the realisation that as a teacher I must strive to ensure that I take my
students how to enhance environmental sustainability in their practice.

The memories have made me realise that as a teacher, there is a role that I play in ensuring that there is
sustainability. Most of what I know about the environment and issues to do with environmental pollution
was learned from my teachers. I picked the lessons in bits and pieces from the several lessons that I was
introduced to by the different teachers that have taught me throughout my academic life. I now realise
that I also owe it to my students, to ensure that I teach them how to live in a sustainable environment.
The experiences and the memories, I now have will be very useful in making sure that the students
understand the true impact of pollution on the environment and why sustainability is a topic for all.

Conclusion

The two memories coupled with the lessons I have gained from sustainable development, serve to
underscore the importance of ensuring that any form of development, takes the needs of the future
generations into perspective. If not properly checked, the current actions of companies through
production and disposal can effect a long lasting effect on the environment that stretch into future
generations. All the stakeholders must, therefore, be trained to be responsible to the environment.
Teachers must play a role by making sure that they pass on the principles of environmental sustainability
to their students.
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