The principles of education for the environment have received widespread acceptance amongst environmental educators as a means of conveying a philosophy which promotes positive change for society and ecologically sustainable practices. Geography is potentially the existing school subject best able to act as a vehicle of education for the environment. The Geography 16 - 19 Project, a British curriculum project, adopted a people/environment approach and enquiry-based learning strategies to assist in the facilitation of environmental education. The textbooks produced by the Project team are exemplar resources for the Project's philosophies and strategies. Literature reviews were conducted on geography as a school subject, environmental education, the Geography 16 - 19 Project and the notion of discourse. A method of discourse analysis was then applied to a selection of the Geography 16 - 19 Project texts. The analysis focused on the effects of choice of content, approaches to environmental issues, the use of passive agency and metaphor on the texts' messages about environmental issues and positive behaviours for the environment. The analysis revealed the limits to which the texts, as a collection, might potentially educate students for the environment through geography. Examples of those sections of the ARC education for the environment were highlighted, and suggestions were the texts might be improved to strengthen links with environmental education.