ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the dimensions of environmental grief and trauma, the intersections and differences between this kind of grief and more commonly understood kinds of bereavement, and the lessons we might learn as sustainability educators from this work. It also explores some ways contemplation and reflective activities in sustainability teaching can be used or adapted to provide some counterbalance for what Kent Redford calls "the Cassandra challenge". Grief is fundamentally feelings of intense sadness in response to a loss. A less predictable but relatively common response is anger, perhaps directed at the deceased for leaving the bereaved or anger that the bereaved couldn't prevent the death. Other physical sensations also are triggered in the grief response. The most commonly reported behaviors associated with grief include disturbances in sleep, altered appetite, absent-mindedness, and social withdrawal. Other cognitive responses include feelings of confusion, difficulty organizing thoughts and preoccupation with the deceased, which may evoke intrusive thoughts of how the deceased died.
