Background/purpose: Technology education (TE) offers hands-on activities through a design process to be an environmentally-oriented subject. TE can be used to reduce littering, an environmental problem that also has health implications for modern-day society. This research study sought to explore the challenges that impede TE teachers in delivering lessons to raise students' awareness of littering through the application of the participatory paradigm. Materials/methods: TE teachers of Grade 8 students were selected using purposive sampling in this qualitative participatory action research (PAR) study. The use of PAR was chosen in order to develop relevant action research-based methods of intervention that can be implemented to address gaps in the literature. Chaos theory was used to ground the study. Interviews were used to generate data from the study participants, which were then analyzed using the content/textual analysis method. Results: The study identified issues, challenges, and obstacles that impede TE teachers from delivering lessons that raise students' awareness about littering. Lack of understanding environmental education and subject relevancy were found to be some of the major challenges facing TE teachers in conscientizing students about littering. Conclusion: The author concludes that TE teachers need to be equipped with environmental pedagogies through inservice training in order that they can incorporate littering issues into their lessons.