Sustainable, or Painted Green? | The Geography Laboratory

Estimated time: 10–15 minutes. Includes the activity and its built-in responses. Extra assignments may take longer.

Project 1 of 3 Test the whole project, not its greenest feature.

Rural district

A solar mini-grid built for an afterlife

Test	Evidence	What the proposal shows

Which judgment best fits the whole project?

Three claims, four tests

Sustainability is a relationship, not a decoration.

A project can meet an urgent need and still fail its future, ecological, or political test.

Project	Present needs	Future	Limits	Power	Best reading
Solar mini-grid	Supported	Supported	Supported with safeguards	Supported	Strong, monitor it
Mine expansion	Mixed	Undermined	Undermined	Undermined	Painted green
Water system	Supported	Undermined	Unresolved	Limited	Benefit without an afterlife

Composite proposals for analysis. A real evaluation would also require local data, affected people's testimony, independent monitoring, and evidence over time.