Keeping Green ELT fun and fresh

By Stephen Farren

The inspiration for this article came from my attendance at a recent ELT conference, and the reaction of fellow professionals at the mention of Sustainable ELT. While some were enthused and inquisitive, many others bore a look that suggested, ‘Oh, this again!’

What that episode highlighted is that many educators misunderstand or disengage when the term ‘sustainability’ is used. Often, it’s associated with abstract policies, uninspiring checklists and tick boxes, or part of a token environment themed unit in a textbook.

So, the core question is how can we reimagine Sustainable ELT as something dynamic, creative, and approachable for teachers and students alike?

While I don’t have the answer to the question, I do feel it is a conversation we need to have between ourselves as educators, because there’s a lot we can do. For instance, introducing fun classroom challenges like ‘A Week Without Waste’ or ‘Plastic-Free Presentation Day,’ where students could complete tasks and present their experiences, or by researching local environmental issues and creating short videos, blog posts, or podcasts to share with partner schools.

Ultimately, I believe it comes down to our own individual actions. I’d like to share a personal initiative I’ve been doing since February, which has had me posting on LinkedIn every morning without fail!

The first thing I did was shift from using the term ‘Sustainable ELT’ – not because it’s wrong, but rather because using ‘Green ELT’ lacks the stigma that seems to have become attached to the s-word. (Obviously, there are times when it’s impossible not to use ‘sustainable’ or ‘sustainability’. An obvious example would be when mentioning Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It becomes unavoidable.)

I then decided to create a habit where I would be thinking Green at the beginning of every day. I also needed a personal goal, or a declaration I could use to motivate myself. Thus, I decided to create an environment or nature themed idiom every day for a year. Simple and actionable.

There were 5 main reasons I decided on this course of action.

1. Make language visual and memorable

Environment and nature themed idioms are potentially rich in metaphor, emotion and humour (e.g. a bee in your bonnet, the tip of the iceberg, a bag of cats). Adding an image to the post helped make the idiom memorable, creating a visual connection and deeper emotional engagement with the vocabulary. One point to mention is being aware of the dangers of some idioms becoming anachronistic as we move through the 21st century. For example, ‘the tip of the iceberg’ might one day be obsolete if climate change and the melting of ice caps continue at today’s rate. Imagine icebergs no longer existing; a chilling thought!

2. Spark reflection and conversation

The idiom becomes an entry point for deeper discussion, which is also true of their use in the classroom. The need to mention ‘sustainability’ is removed and the idiom transcends mere meaning, becoming a talking point for global issues, values, and perspectives. This encourages space for critical thinking and in turn leads to more reflective students. The example sentence, where the idiom is given a context, reinforces this.

LinkedIn has given me the opportunity to gain insights from fellow professionals. One mentioned how she viewed idioms in this context as ‘a kind of shorthand making it easier to deal with’ and discuss complex emotions in class. Another, however, pointed out that idioms can serve to obscure meaning – if you look for a word-for-word translation or explanation of an idiom, you can easily be led astray.

3. Foster connection and creativity

Sharing these idioms on social media has organically created a network of teachers and professionals engaging with the content. I’m still taken aback when I get messages from fellow educators thanking me for the idioms and asking me to continue posting them. This translates to the classroom as it highlights how shared, consistent content can foster group cohesion and collaborative skills.

Here are a few suggestions that help take this approach into the classroom;

• ‘Idiom of the week’ with a green twist. An environmental or nature themed idiom could be introduced each week. Students would then have to use it in a sentence related to current classroom themes, in their writing, or as part of a class discussion. For example, for “throw caution to the wind,” students might write about someone in sustainability who has taken risks that have led to real change. E.g. someone like Paul Hawken or Al Gore.
• ‘Idioms in action’ group project work. Students could work in small groups to create posters illustrating environmental idioms like ‘snowball effect,’ ‘a drop in the ocean,’ ‘can’t see the forest for the trees’. Each group could then connect their idiom to a real environmental issue and present it to the class. This would encourage creative thinking, collaboration, and a deeper understanding of idiomatic language.

4. Encourage creative daily discipline

Posting my daily idiom has evolved into a digital portfolio of Green content. More importantly, it prompts the following questions: what simple, creative habits could other teachers adopt to integrate sustainability into their own routines? How could this be adapted for our students?

Teachers could develop similar creative routines by incorporating eco-themed content into their lessons like green vocabulary, environmental quotes, or short features on sustainable innovations. Making teaching more resource-conscious by minimizing paper use, repurposing materials, and embedding small green rituals like weekly eco-challenges or reflection prompts would also help develop sustainable habits.

Students could write contexts for the eco-idioms or idioms provided by the teacher, make up stories, take on classroom sustainability roles (such as energy monitor or recycling leader), and participate in student-led campaigns like green presentations. Using reflective tools like journals or class discussions would deepen their engagement.

5. Challenge traditional ELT content

Many idioms taught in coursebooks are outdated, obscure, or culturally disconnected. Some are absorbed naturally through exposure to media and conversation, while others may need explicit teaching. To enable you to teach idioms still in modern use I can recommend the following resources;

• British National Corpus (BNC) (https://www.english-corpora.org/BNC/) a collection of samples of written and spoken British English from the late 20th century.
• Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) (https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/) an American version of the BNC.
• Oxford Learner’s Dictionary (https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com) online dictionary that provides information on an idiom such as frequency of use and context.
• Google’s Ngram Viewer (https://books.google.com/ngrams) plots idiom usage over the centuries.

These resources can be used to help check whether an idiom is current, how often it is used, and in what context. Creating a daily idiom allows me to attach environmental or nature themes to expressions that are relevant and culturally meaningful. This makes the language both authentic and socially conscious.

I can tell you how many times I’ve actually heard a person say ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’. Zero. Zero times. Yet, it’s an idiom that all students know. Something doesn’t seem quite right, and by creating my daily idiom I have the opportunity to share more relevant, widely used idioms. The opportunity also exists for me to share cultural or colloquial idioms that add authenticity and cultural depth to the learning experience. I’m able to do all this while subtly introducing environmental awareness.

Small acts, Big Shifts

While the act of posting a daily idiom may seem small, its impact has been unexpected and far-reaching. What it has demonstrated for me is that integrating sustainability or making ELT greener doesn’t require massive curriculum overhauls. Instead it begins with playful, thoughtful micro-practices, by educators consciously taking the environment into their classrooms on a regular basis.

As educators, let’s reflect on what small Green ELT habit you can create. Idioms work for me; what would work for you?

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