We are living in a day in age where kids need to be taught Green living for the future of our planet. But how? I have come up with some tips to help parents teach their kids to live green.
The best way to teach kids to live green is to lead by example. This has been a feat that was not easy for me at first as I was not taught to live green as a child and had to reincorporate it into my life. But now I make sure that when I am doing something even as small as turning off the lights I let my child know that it is helping the earth.
Recycling is one of the best ways to teach your kids to live green. Many areas have a recycling service that will stop by and pick up your recycled items. I love going through everything with my child and explaining to her what can be recycled and what it can be made into after it is recycled. Each time something is thrown away I make sure to ask her what recycle bin she thinks it should go into.
Teach kids to be conservative. Explain to them how using up too much water and electricity can affect the earth in the long run. What happens to water after we use it in the washer, bath tub, washing the dishes, etc… let them know where it goes. How about the Electricity. What are the long term effects of keeping the lights on all day? How can we be better about conserving?
Composting is a fun one in my opinion. My daughter and I have a compost bin that we can add to our growing crops. I explain to her that the fruits and veggies we are growing are helping to clean the air we breathe. I explain that the compost can help our fruits and veggies grow and she is learning the value of not wasting anything. Plus with my compost I will not have to spend the money on fertilizers and such and thus in turn we are eating healthier foods!
Help kids understand that car pooling and using public transportation can help aid in cutting down our pollution. I know that walking and riding our bikes is fun time that we can spend together and we are helping to keep our air clean!
Be involved with nature. Taking the kids camping, hiking, or other outdoor activities can help them to see what they are trying to save. Teach them that there are many living things on this earth that need help from us.
Try to make items homemade! I love this tip! It is great family time and there are so many things you can make out of old items. How about a seek and find water bottle? My daughter and I took an old water bottle and filled it up with little toys and rice. We then glued the lid on the bottle. Now she has hours of fun shaking the bottle around to uncover all the little trinkets I hid in that bottle. Doing a little research can help you come across lots of fun ways to recycle and make your own homemade items!
Use re-usable shopping bags. Teach your children how long a plastic bag stays in a landfill before it decomposes. 10-20 years is a long time for each bag! Using a re-usable can help our planet tremendously.
Teach our children the importance (and convenience) of re-usable diapers! Cloth diapers help to keep disposable diapers out of landfills! Disposable diapers take 75 years to decompose!!!
Can your own food. This is something I did grow up with. I now know that the food I am eating really was canned fresh (as it comes out of my garden) and it also cuts down on the aluminum can’s that I purchase. Aluminum cans contain BPA and they can take up to 100 years to decompose! If you can your own food in canning jars then you are recycling the jars every year and also not affecting your children with the BPA chemicals!
There are so many ways that you can help your children to live green! Starting out slow will help you to get used to the changes you are making in your life and help you to keep up the good work! I know you can do it! The future of our children depends on it!
Marina Chernyak is the co-owner of 1001Shops LLC, an online store of fine imported products like Fedora Hats,Panama Hats and Murano Glass.
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I have a question: I do all of these thing. I have been since my son was very young. Now he's going on 13 and just rolls his eyes at me whenever I remind him to take a reusable bag to the library (rather than use one of their plastic ones), use both sides of his paper when he draws, and PICK UP HIS TRASH! This last one is really getting to me. All of the kids in our neighborhood just toss their candy wwrapper on the ground. I've gone out there, when it gets bad, and handed out trash bags to everyone, telling them that I'll give them each a pop if they bring me their bag filled with trash. When I catch me son tossing something on the ground, I give him a bag and make him fill it up - whether it's his trash or not. BUT HE STILL KEEPS DOING IT! Any suggestions for me? I've done all of the preaching, teaching, and even begging. He knows the consequences of not living green.
ReplyDeleteAs a mom of girls that used to be that age, I can honestly say that the more you tell them/nag, the more they don't listen.You have to use the reverse on him.He does something good, you praise him. Or you say,"I'm proud of you when I see you picking up your garbage, or using a recyclable bag- it means lots to me." But don't nag the negative.Hopefully the praise will be something he will want to hear more of and will try harder to get it from you.
ReplyDeleteReaders- your opinions are also welcome.