A cookbook, picture books and podcasts are some of the ways University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa business students are raising awareness about the global fight against climate change. The projects were part of Instructor Constancio Paranal III’s summer 2022 marketing course called “Imagination, Entrepreneurship” in the Shidler College of Business.
“It’s important to incorporate climate change into business and entrepreneurship classes as we are the generation that has the capacity to make changes.”
—Raina Casamina
“The need to incorporate this topic in any discipline, not just business and entrepreneurship, has never been more critical than ever,” Paranal said. “For current and future business leaders, climate change intelligence is key in developing sustainable and meaningful businesses. I do believe that education is the key towards advancing all causes and inspiring youthful civic engagement, and now is the time to act.”
Raina Casamina, a master of science in marketing management student, led the team that created a recipe-style cookbook on how to reduce our carbon footprint with daily activities. Like any recipe that counts calories, the Laulima Society recipe book counts an activity’s carbon footprint.
Some of the recipes include coffee for the workplace, roasted chickpea gyro and chocolate chip cookies. The book is not limited to food. It has other activities to lower one’s carbon footprint, including T-shirt upcycling to create a reusable bag and creating a zero-waste kit. The students also encourage others to come up with recipes of their own.
“It’s important to incorporate climate change into business and entrepreneurship classes as we are the generation that has the capacity to make changes,” Casamina said. “We just want to emphasize that there are so many things that people can do in our daily lives that can help fight climate change. Though these effects may seem minimal now, if we come together as a community, we can make a difference. It can be as simple as cutting electronic usage to supporting sustainable brands.”
- See the cookbook on LinkedIn
Other student teams created two children’s picture books featuring two siblings, Micah and Kalei, who are determined to save our ocean and their sea creature friends; and three podcast episodes featuring professionals, students and activists who spoke about how to promote and act on climate change.
—By Marc Arakaki
