Transatlantic Council Boy Scouts of America
Sustainability Challenge 2021 Workbook
The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it --Robert Swan, polar explorer
In 2020, the Transatlantic Council BSA (TAC) launched its Sustainability Mission:
TAC will set the gold standard in Scouting for efforts to improve human impacts upon the planet
We will achieve that by incorporating sustainability practices and training throughout our program, focused on impacts upon the natural world – the topics addressed in the Sustainability merit badge. We will be thousands of advocates for the planet in the Anthropocene age. Our youth will change their own futures.
This mission involves every participant in TAC Scouting: group action at the unit, district, and council levels; and individual action by every youth and adult member in TAC and their families. We support the sustainability efforts of Scouting throughout the BSA and throughout the world. We must all care for the world we inherited, to ensure that future generations enjoy the same joys and privileges of the outdoors that we do.
Take the TAC Sustainability Challenge 2021
We challenge you, your unit, and your families and friends to take the TAC Sustainability Challenge 2021, and join the movement to improve human impacts upon the planet. The challenge is open to EVERYONE: Scouts, Guides, and non-scouts; youth and adults.
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Cub Challenge (5-10 year olds) Scout and Adult Challenge (11-18 year olds, and all adults) Venturer / Sea Scout / Explorer Challenge (14-21 year olds) Unit Challenge (bonus challenge for groups)
Completing the challenge
Please complete your challenge based on the Scout programme you are in. If you are not a BSA member, please choose a challenge based on your age. The challenge can be completed on your own or as part of a group from the same unit (this does not cover the Unit Challenge). If you complete the challenge on your own, please log your data into the TAC Sustainability Challenge page yourself; if you complete the challenge as part of a group, please nominate a Challenge Coordinator who will log all of the data into the TAC Sustainability Challenge page.
See tac-bsa.org/Sustainability to download the workbook, log your accomplishments, and see the impact we are having.
Role of a Challenge Coordinator If multiple youth or Scouters from the same unit are taking the Sustainability Challenge, someone must play the role of Challenge Coordinator. The Challenge Coordinator may be a youth or an adult.
The Challenge Coordinator is responsible for:
1. Reviewing the Record of each Challenge participant 2. Compiling the data from all Records in the unit 3. Logging the accomplishments in the TAC Sustainability Challenge page
If people complete their challenges at different times, it is possible to submit the accomplishments in multiple batches, for example, monthly; you don’t have to wait until the last person completes the challenge for everyone to finish.
Why do you need to log your accomplishments on the TAC Sustainability Challenge Page? To change the world and ensure that a healthy planet is there for the next generations, we need two things: Education & Action. In order for us to measure the action created by the version 1.1 2
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Sustainability Challenge and the impact it has on improving Sustainability around the world, we need to know what you did!
We will be updating the webpage on (at least) a monthly basis to show the impact we have collectively achieved by working together on Sustainability.
What will I get by completing the Sustainability Challenge? You will have taken action in order to ensure the future enjoyment of the outdoors for yourself, your family, your friends, fellow scouts and future generations. What elements of the challenge can you adopt into your regular day? Week? Month?
Additionally, you/your challenge coordinator will have the opportunity to order a limited-edition 2021 Sustainability Challenge patch when you log your challenge accomplishments online.
I don’t belong to Boy Scouts of America’s Transatlantic Council, can I still take the challenge?
Yes! The challenge is for every youth and adult, including BSA members in every council, Scouts around the world, and non-scouting families. Please choose a challenge at the appropriate level based on your age. When recording your accomplishments please do the following:
BSA Scouts (non-Transatlantic Council) and families 1. Enter your council under “other” 2. Enter your district under “other”
Non-BSA Scouts or Guides and families 1. Enter your National Scouting Organisation under “council” (for example: The Scouting Association (UK), Scouts Canada, etc) 2. Enter your city under “district”
Non-Scout/Non-Guide families 1. Enter 000000 under “unit” 2. Enter your country under “council” 3. Enter your city under “district”
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Cub Challenge 2021
Requirements 1. Food: Help prepare a vegetarian dinner 2. Waste: Help separate your family’s trash for recycling, using local rules 3. Biodiversity: Identify 10 plants or wild animals near your home 4. Explain to someone outside of your immediate family what you are doing to improve human impacts upon the planet, and why 5. Complete four of the following:
a. Grow a plant, or plant a tree b. Build an insect hotel c. Use a reusable drink container for 2 weeks d. Calculate the greenhouse gas created to serve your family dinners of beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and fish e. Calculate how many food miles are in your favourite meal f. Learn about two of the Sustainable Development goals at Scouts for SDGs (sdgs.scout.org) with an adult. Start an activity related to one of the SDGs g. Take part in an Earth Day activity (earthday.org) on any day h. Take part in Earth Hour (earthhour.org) on 27 March 2021 i. Watch a documentary or read a book about a sustainability topic
6. Log all accomplishments in the TAC Sustainability records
The following resources are provided to help complete the TAC Sustainability Challenge. They are there for guidance and are not exhaustive. The purpose of the challenge is to raise awareness of the importance of sustainability in every part of our lives, and give us some ideas on what impact we have, or could have. In case a resource is not available where you live, please use your best judgement in the spirit of the challenge to find an alternative.
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Resources
The “Anthropocene” website of the Natural History Museum (London) is an excellent and expanding all-around resource on these topics.
The following will help you complete the different requirements in the Challenge.
Requirement 1: Vegetarian Recipes
Requirement 5b: Plans for an insect hotel
Requirement 5d: Chart of food choice greenhouse gas emissions Discussion of food choice greenhouse gas emissions BBC Diet Carbon Footprint calculator
Requirement 5e: Food miles calculator
Requirement 5f: Scouts for Sustainable Development goals
Requirement 5g: Earth Day website
Requirement 5h: Earth Hour Website
Requirement 5i: Some suggestions (more are available in the Scout Challenge): “David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet” (documentary film; highly recommended) “No One is Too Small to Make a Difference”, Greta Thunberg (collection of speeches) Sustainability for Kids - the Touring Teacher (video) Operation Sustainability - a story on the world´s most important customer
Requirement 6: Fill out (individual) or get your Challenge Coordinator (group) to fill out the records log on the Sustainability Challenge webpage.
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Record keeping
Name: District: Unit:
Requirement Date Completed
1 Food: Help prepare a - vegetarian dinner
2 Waste: Help separate - your family’s trash for recycling, using local rules
3 Biodiversity: Identify 10 Which plants/animals did you find? plants or wild animals near your home
4 Explain to someone What are you doing and why? Who did you outside of your tell? immediate family what you are doing to improve human impacts upon the planet, and why
5 Complete four of the following
5a Grow a plant, or plant a tree
5b Build an insect hotel
5c Use a reusable drink container for 2 weeks
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5d Calculate the Beef: greenhouse gas Lamb: created to serve your Pork: family dinners of beef, Chicken: Fish: lamb, pork, chicken, and fish
5e Calculate how many food miles are in your favourite meal
5f Learn about two of the Which two SDGs? What activity? Sustainable Development goals at Scouts for SDGs (sdgs.scout.org) with an adult. Start an activity related to one of the SDGs
5g Take part in an Earth What activity? Day activity (earthday.org) on any day
5h Take part in Earth Hour (earthhour.org) on 27 March 2021
5i Watch a documentary What documentary? Which book? or read a book about a sustainability topic
6 Log all If you are completing the challenge with accomplishments in the other members of your unit, please give TAC Sustainability this information to your challenge records coordinator.
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Scout and Adult Challenge 2021
Requirements
1. Energy: Reduce your home energy-related and/or transportation-related carbon footprint. (You choose the time period and amount). Calculate the amount of carbon you saved. 2. Water: Reduce your water usage. (You choose the time period and amount.) Calculate the number of liters you saved 3. Food: Reduce your food waste. (You choose the time period and amount.) Calculate the amount of food waste you prevented 4. Food: Reduce the greenhouse gas impact of your diet. (You choose the time period and amount.) If you eat meat, the biggest impact comes from reducing the amount of beef, lamb and cheese in your diet. Calculate the Co2-equivalent savings 5. Food: Calculate how many food miles are in your weekly household food consumption 6. Waste: Reduce your use of single-use plastics. (You choose the time period and amount.) One way to do this is to bring your own reusable shopping bags when you shop 7. Waste: Increase your family’s recycling of recyclable materials under local procedures. (You choose the time period and amount.) 8. Biodiversity: Use Ecosia for your internet searches. (You choose the time period and amount.) Note the number of trees you helped plant, calculated by Ecosia according to the number of searches (www.ecosia.org) 9. Go to Scouts for SDGs | World Scouting (sdgs.scout.org) and select one of the SDGs. Start an activity related to this goal and report it on their website 10. Explain to people outside of your immediate family what you are doing to improve human impacts upon the planet, and why 11. Log all accomplishments in the TAC Sustainability records: challenge completed, service hours, trees planted, amount of carbon saved, SDGs supported, etc. 12. Complete 10 of the following, including at least one per category:
a. WASTE i. Use a reusable drink container (water bottle, coffee cup, etc) for 1 month ii. Use only reusable food containers for 1 month iii. Participate in a repurposing/upcycling/reusing activity of things your family or unit no longer needs version 1.1 8
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iv. Install a means of collecting rainwater or grey water. Use the collected water b. FOOD i. Eat at least 10 vegetarian/vegan meals per week for a month ii. Calculate the greenhouse gas impact of the meals you prepare(d) for First Class cooking requirements iii. Grow something edible iv. Compost all appropriate waste for 1 month (estimate its weight in kg) c. ENERGY i. Travel by foot, bike or public transport once per week for 1 month on a trip that you would normally take by car ii. Reduce your electricity usage for 1 month, and calculate the reduction iii. Charge a device in your household using solar energy or another sustainable energy source for 2 weeks iv. Research how the energy used in your home is generated, whether more-sustainable sources are available at your address, and what impact a change could have d. BIODIVERSITY i. Plant a window box, wildflowers, a butterfly garden, or an insect garden ii. Identify 3 types of plant, collect their seeds and store them to create a seed bank. Swap seeds with someone to add another seed to your seed bank iii. Build an insect hotel iv. Record the types of plant and animal species in a 50 square meter patch. Identify a plant native to the area that was not in your surveyed patch e. SERVICE i. Take part in a sustainability service project (minimum 2 hours) ii. Plant at least one tree -- preferably several. Helping to plant trees using Ecosia does not count for this requirement. iii. Participate in a trash pickup. Post photos of trash picked using a media channel of your choice under the tag #TACcleanup f. EDUCATION i. Watch a documentary on a sustainability topic. Share what you learned with others inside and/or outside Scouting ii. Take part in an Earth Day activity (earthday.org) on any day; or take part in Earth Hour (earthhour.org) on 27 March 2021 version 1.1 9
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iii. Listen to a podcast on a sustainability topic. Share what you learned with others inside and/or outside Scouting iv. Read a book, or a report from an international organisation, on a sustainability topic. v. Create a #Scouts4Sustainbility post or poster to create #SustainabilityAwareness in your community. Add your post or poster to your social media pages and websites, using those tags
Resources The following will help you complete the different requirements in the Challenge.
The “Anthropocene” website of the Natural History Museum (London) is an excellent and expanding all-around resource on these topics
Carbon Conversations’ Workbook provides activities that may be used in group meetings, detailed guidance on monitoring your footprint, guidance on drawing up plans for reducing your footprint.
Requirement 1: Carbon Footprint Calculator (website) or Carbon Conversations’ Carbon Footprint Calculator (google sheet)
Requirement 2: Measure the amount of water being used using a measuring jug, or read your household water meter to establish a baseline. Implement water saving activities, and re-measure your water usage.
Requirement 3: Before throwing any food away, put it in a suitable container and use a kitchen scale to measure its mass. Alternatively, when throwing food waste away as compost, weigh your compost bag/container on a weekly basis (or before emptying). Take a baseline measurement before starting the requirement, and another measurement after implementing food waste reduction activities.
Requirement 4: Chart of food choice greenhouse gas emissions; Discussion of food choice greenhouse gas emissions; BBC Diet Carbon Footprint calculator
Requirement 5: Food Miles Calculator
Requirement 7: Calculate the amount of materials that are recycled and those that go to waste. Aim to recycle as much waste as possible. Search online for details on local recycling procedures -- some materials are recyclable in some locations and not others. Rinse food off version 1.1 10
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of kitchen recyclables before recycling, to avoid an entire load of recyclable materials being rejected by the recycling plant.
Requirement 8: Ecosia Use Ecosia to search the web in order to help plant trees. When using Ecosia it takes approximately 45 searches to finance the planting of one tree. Depending on clicks on ads and how much search ad revenue these generate for Ecosia, it may take fewer searches. Find out more on how Ecosia works and where they plant trees on their website.
Requirement 9: Scouts for Sustainable Development goals
Requirement 10: Here are just some of the possibilities: Lead or participate in a discussion at a patrol or troop meeting; with extended family members; at school or work; or in other settings. Post your explanations on social media. Write letters to legislators supporting particular actions.
Requirement 11: Fill out (individual) or get your Challenge Coordinator (group) to fill out the records log on the Sustainability Challenge webpage.
WATER Requirement 12a(iv): According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, during an average rainstorm more than 700 gallons of water run off the roof of a typical home. After a rainstorm, water is rushing right off of nearby buildings and pavement and back into the local waterways, bringing a whole lot of pollution with it. By capturing rainwater with rain barrels and water gardens, you can cut down on the amount of runoff going back into the environment, and even use the captured water to water your plants or for non-potable water uses.
FOOD Requirement 12b(i): Vegetarian Recipes; More Recipes Requirement 12b(ii): Chart of food choice greenhouse gas emissions; Discussion of food choice greenhouse gas emissions; BBC Diet Carbon Footprint calculator Requirement 12b(iii): Start a vegetable garden; Grow food in a window box Requirement 12b(iv): Guide to compost
ENERGY Requirement 12c(ii): If you are able to access your electricity meter, record a baseline usage of electricity for 1 week. Divide this number by 7 and multiply it by the number of days in the month that you are conducting reduced activities. Implement electricity reduction
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measures and record the energy usage for 1 month. Compare your baseline and reduced numbers. If you are unable to access your electricity meter, use an Online Energy Calculator to calculate a baseline of your current electricity usage. Implement electricity reduction measures and recalculate your electricity usage. Compare your baseline and reduced numbers.
Requirement 12c(iii): Some possibilities: Use a portable solar panel to charge a device. You will probably find it most convenient to charge a portable battery pack using a solar panel, and then use the battery pack to charge the device. Charge your device using someone else’s solar energy generation. Some businesses, schools, public buildings, stores, and public charging stations generate their own electricity using the sun; charge up there! Charge using wind power Charge using motion-generated power, like a hand-cranked charge. Here are some ideas
Requirement 12c(iv): Find out which company supplies your household electricity. Research on their website or published material how they generate their electricity. Do they offer different plans where customers can choose how their electricity is generated? Are there other companies your household could be using for electricity, and do they generate their electricity differently? Discuss with your family how the way your electricity is generated impacts your family and the world, and what different options there are to get your electricity.
BIODIVERSITY Requirement 12d(i): Start a window box; Plant wildflowers; Butterfly garden; Insect hotel Requirement 12d(ii): Use Google Lens, PlantSnap, another plant classification app, Plants of Europe, or a reference book to identify. Store seeds properly, Requirement 12d(iii): Insect Hotel Requirement 12d(iv): For plants, see 12d(ii). Use evidence of animals to identify what species they could be.
SERVICE Requirement 12e(i): Service projects must be sustainability focussed. Service hours can be in a group or individual project. Requirement 12e(ii): Benefits of tree planting; Steps for tree planting Requirement 12e(iii): Why pick up trash; How to do safely; Scouts Trash the Trash Day
EDUCATION Requirement 12f(i): Some suggested documentaries: David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet Game Changers
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Fools & Dreamers: Regenerating a Native Forest Chasing Coral Chasing Ice
Requirement 12f(ii): Earth Day website Earth Hour Website
Requirement 12f(iii): Some suggested podcasts: 14 great sustainability podcasts Environmental podcasts
Requirement 12f(iv): Some suggested books and reports: “The Uninhabitable Earth”, David Wallace-Wells (highly recommended) “No One is Too Small to Make a Difference”, Greta Thunberg (youth campaigner with a global impact) “A Life on our Planet”, David Attenborough (highly recommended) “There is No Planet B”, Mike Berners-Lee “Silent Spring”, Rachel Carson (the book that launched the environmental movement) “We are the weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast”, Jonathan Safran Foer “The Green Teen: The Eco-Friendly Teen's Guide to Saving the Planet”, Jenn Savedge “47 Things You Can Do for the Environment”, Lexi Petronis “Generation Green: The Ultimate Teen Guide to Living an Eco-Friendly Life”, Linda Sivertsen “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat”, Michael Pollan (also in a “Young Readers Edition”) UN Global Sustainable Development Reports EU Sustainable Development Reports Reports of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPBES Biodiversity Report
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Record keeping
Name: District: Unit:
Requirement Date Completed
1 Energy: Reduce your Current carbon New carbon footprint: footprint: home energy-related and/or transportation-related
carbon footprint. (You Saved carbon: choose the time period and amount). Calculate the amount of carbon you saved.
2 Water: Reduce your Current water New water usage usage (L): (L): water usage. (You choose the time period and amount.) Calculate
the number of liters you Saved water (L): saved
3 Food: Reduce your Current food New food waste waste (kg): (kg): food waste. (You choose the time period and amount.) Calculate Saved food waste the amount of food (kg): waste you prevented
4 Food: Reduce the Current New CO2-equivalent: CO2-equivalent: greenhouse gas impact of your diet. (You choose the time period
and amount.) If you eat meat, the biggest Saved impact comes from CO2-equivalent:
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reducing the amount of beef, lamb and cheese in your diet. Calculate the CO2-equivalent savings
5 Food: Calculate how Current Food New Food miles: miles: many food miles are in your weekly household Saved Food miles: food consumption
6 Waste: Reduce your use of single-use plastics. (You choose the time period and amount.) One way to do this is to bring your own reusable shopping bags when you shop
7 Waste: Increase your family’s recycling of recyclable materials under local procedures. (You choose the time period and amount.)
8 Biodiversity: Use How many trees did you help plant Ecosia for your internet using Ecosia? (trees not searches!) searches. (You choose the time period and amount.) Note the number of trees you helped plant, calculated by Ecosia according to the number of searches (www.ecosia.org)
9 Go to Scouts for SDGs Which SDGs? What activity? | World Scouting (sdgs.scout.org) and
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select one of the SDGs. Start an activity related to this goal and report it on their website
10 Explain to people outside of your immediate family what you are doing to improve human impacts upon the planet, and why
11 Log all accomplishments in the TAC Sustainability records: challenge completed, service hours, trees pl anted, amount of carbon saved, SDGs supported, etc.
12 Complete 10 including at least one per category
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Requirement Baseline New measurements Date measurements and savings made completed
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Venturer / Sea Scout / Explorer Challenge 2021
Requirements 1. Complete all portions of the Scout and Adult Challenge 2021, deleting any two of requirements 1-8 2. Select a Clean Beaches activity in a lake, river, or sea near you (Sea Scouts); or select a forest, park or nature reserve near you (Venturer & Explorer). Conduct a local drive to clean this area. Share a story in a media channel of your choice with photos. If using social media use #TACcleanup. Make sure you record the number of volunteer hours from your Cleanup activity. 3. Act as an advocate for Sustainability by creating a communication to create Sustainability Awareness in your Community. This could take the form of a social media post (#SustainabilityAwareness + #SustainabilityVenturers or #SustainabilitySeaScouts), a poster, blog post, webpage, or something of your own choosing to reach the maximum number of people in your community.
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Unit Challenge 2021
Requirements 1. Participation: Have 25% of active youth complete the relevant TAC Sustainability Challenge 2021 2. Values: Begin or continue to recite the Outdoor Code at every meeting, after the Scout Oath and Scout Law 3. Leadership (Troops): Outdoor Ethics Guide position of responsibility actively filled 4. Advancement (Troops): Merit Badge counsellor positions for Sustainability MB and Environmental Science MB actively filled 5. Program: Run a sustainability-themed unit meeting 6. Program: Create a unit sustainable camping plan. Include transport, menu design, cooking methods, campfires, waste minimization, trash minimization, and cleaning 7. Food: At one event prepare and serve only vegetarian food, or have a patrol or den challenge for lowest greenhouse gas impact meal prepared 8. Service: Complete at least one unit sustainability-related service project, with a total number of service hours at least equal to 2x the total number of unit youth. For tree planting, count the number of trees 9. Log all accomplishments in the TAC Sustainability records
Resources
BSA literature: Scout Handbook; Fieldbook; Merit Badge pamphlets for Energy, Environmental Science, Fish and Wildlife Management, Forestry, Nature, Oceanography, Plant Science, Public Health, Soil and Water Conservation, and Weather (all available on Kindle app from Amazon). Link to Sustainability MB requirements and resources
The “Anthropocene” website of the Natural History Museum (London) is an excellent and expanding all-around resource on these topics
Carbon Conversations’ Workbook provides activities that may be used in group meetings, detailed guidance on monitoring your footprint, guidance on drawing up plans for reducing your footprint.
Requirement 2: The Outdoor Code: As a Scout, I will do my best to: be clean in my outdoor manners; be careful with fire; be considerate in the outdoors; and be conservation minded.
Requirement 3: Outdoor Ethics Guide Handbook; Outdoor Ethics Guide Duties version 1.1 19
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Requirement 5: The meeting could be geared around achieving one of the Scout Challenge points. The BSA Troop Leader Resources have further ideas: Sustainability troop program features, with meeting ideas Nature and Environment troop program features, with meeting ideas
Requirement 6: Sustainable camping plan idea list
Requirement 7: Chart of food choice greenhouse gas emissions; Discussion of food choice greenhouse gas emissions; BBC Diet Carbon Footprint calculator; Vegetarian Recipes; More Recipes
Requirement 8: Multiple service projects can be used to achieve the overall goal. Example service projects include tree planting, trash pick-up, waterways clean up, promoting biodiversity. The more lasting impact, the better: planting a tree has a much longer lasting impact than picking up trash. “Scouts Trash the Trash Day” is 1 May 2021. During Covid-19 restrictions, service projects that are not currently possible for entire troops might be possible as patrols or as individual families; check and abide by local restrictions, and take all appropriate precautions.
Requirement 9 Challenge Coordinator (group) to fill out the records log on the Sustainability Challenge webpage
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Thank you to the TAC Sustainability Committee for their work in preparing the 2021 award. The TAC Sustainability Committee is a multinational group of Scouters committed to helping TAC think Sustainability first in all of their programmes, camps, and activities. Special thanks to Matt May, Dean Menegas, Jude Michell, Jose Lepervanche, and Andrew Wright who challenge you to take the 2021 Sustainability Challenge!
All contents © 2021 Transatlantic Council, Boy Scouts of America
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