How To Grow A Green Family

BY Alice Astourian (askmissa.com)

My son is in love with the outdoors. He loves to play in our garden and pick fruit from our fruit trees. It brings me great joy to know that he enjoys what the earth has to offer. As Earth Day approaches (April 22) I find myself realizing that there could be a day when he won’t be able to enjoy these natural resources.  I think it is important for parents to teach their children how to care for the planet so that they can grow up with abundant natural resources. It’s important for us to teach our children the importance of recycling, minimizing trash, conserving water, keeping the air clean, and loving animals and plants.

We can help our children learn how to care for the environment first by example. Take steps in your household to encourage good habits and values that will help establish a green lifestyle. Here are a few ways to help you grow a green family:

1.    Expose your children to nature – On sites like Groupon you are likely to find deals for your local zoo, arboretum or botanical garden. We recently purchased a year membership to our local Arboretum. We took our son and he had a blast looking at the plants and walking around. If you can, get your kids to enjoy gardening. Plant things like sunflowers, watermelons, pumpkins, tomatoes and zucchini so they can see how they grow. They’ll take pride in growing them.  And maybe it will even make them want to eat their vegetables! You also can grow herbs in pots that your kids have painted and decorated.

2.    Pick up trash - Teach your children the importance of properly throwing away trash. Make sure your children understand the negative effects that littering has on the environment, on humans and on animals. Grab some rubber gloves and help cleanup your local park. Get your kids involved by turning it into a game to see who can pick up the most trash.

3.    Reuse and recycle - Be practical about how you go about this. Don’t be hard on yourself if you’re not big on turning trash into treasure. If you don’t already, start by recycling your cans, newspapers and bottles.
Things you can reuse:

• Jars as drinking glasses or as vases.
• Egg carton flowers, you can check hennymats blog for the tutorial.
• Clothes that are torn or too small don’t have to be thrown away. Turn an old shirt into an art smock with a tutorial from Something’s Gotta Give.

4.    BYOB (Bring your own bag) – Keep reusable bags in the trunk of your car and put your kids in charge of remembering to grab them. Lots of grocery stores are now charging for bags so this is way that you can save some green by going green.

5.    Turn off the lights and the tap – Get your kids to unplug computers, cell phone chargers, iPod docking stations and video game systems when not in use. This could save you money on your power bill and save power in general. Don’t leave your faucet running when the water isn’t being used. Make sure your kids know that when the water is running unnecessarily it is being wasted.

6.    Skip plastic - At many family gatherings, paper plates and plastic utensils are often used simply because it is easier. It may be easier, but it is much more eco-friendly to use your everyday china when you are home. When you are on-the-go plastic is more convenient, but if that is your concern, opt to use reusable bamboo utensils or eco-friendly utensils instead.  And always remember to recycle them instead of tossing them in the trash.

Getting your family to go green puts the planet first. It is important to care for the planet now if you want your kids to have abundant natural resources in the future. Going green doesn’t have to be difficult. It can actually be fun when you get the whole family involved. Happy Earth Day!