As environmentally conscious as you may be, what about your kids? Do they understand the importance of sustainable practices that go beyond recycling?
While kids will learn a bit about how to help the environment in school (hopefully), it’s up to you to fill in the gaps. Teach them to be lifelong lovers of the environment, but don’t forget to make it fun.
Here are a few ‘games’ to play while also showing your kids ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
1. Turn a walk into a neighborhood clean up
Getting kids outdoors isn’t always easy, especially when it’s hot out, but propose the whole family take a ‘trash walk’ and you may be surprised. Sit down with your kids and plan a route through your neighborhood to scout for trash. Then, grab a trash bag and some disposable gloves and set out. You can even have a friendly competition to see which kid collects the most trash if you’re out with more than one.
While on the walk, talk to them about how each piece of trash they collect makes an immediate impact on the environment. Let them know that the 15-30 minutes they’re spending today cleaning up really makes a difference, and beautifying your surroundings, by removing litter, doesn’t always require a huge amount of time.
2. Plant something for your dinner table
A huge component of sustainability is where our food comes from. Sustainable farming can happen on both a small or large scale, so it’s something you can do a little of right in your own backyard.
Gather the kids and make a list of your favorite fruits, herbs, and veggies because it’s time to plant a garden. You can section off an area of your yard or even set up a mini-greenhouse on your porch.
Teach the kids how to care for their plants, and then watch them grow. Nothing will taste as good on their dinner plates as items they’ve grown and tended to themselves.
3. Make a mixture
Kids absolutely love mixing ingredients together. It feels like an experiment, it lets them get messy, and, done right, it can produce homemade sustainable products. Instead of going to the store, buying a lot of products with harmful chemicals in them, stored in plastic bottles you toss after one use, change things up. Purchase some reusable glass bottles and make your own cleaning supplies.
You can pick and choose which ingredients to use, and what supplies to make, but involving your kids turns the process into a fun family moment for sure. You can also teach them about reading product labels and the importance of understanding what’s in the products you use.
4. Audit your home’s energy
Treat it like a scavenger hunt through your home. Grab a notepad and your kids, and make a list of everything that’s potentially wasting energy. This could include the types of bulbs you have throughout your home all the way down to the dripping shower head in the kids’ bathroom.
Once you get your list, decide what’s possible to change and then hit the hardware store. Take your kids shopping with you and let them make some of the decisions on what you’ll buy, and then have them help once you’re home. While they shouldn’t install anything themselves, they can help open packaging, and hold the ladder steady while you climb.
As you’re making these permanent changes, you can also talk about daily ways everyone can work to cut down on energy use. The biggest — remembering to turn lights off when leaving a room empty.
5. Create a compost bin
It’s not necessary to go out and buy an expensive compost bin to add this sustainable practice to your home. Your kids can make one for you (with your help). Gathering together a few basic supplies, a little water, organic debris, and good food scraps, kids can transform an inexpensive plastic bin into your family’s composting container.
This hands-on activity will feel as much like a craft as all those art projects you try to get your kids to do to fill up time. The only difference is what you end up with is something you can use to help the environment.
Thinking sustainably can be a part of everything you do
Thinking sustainably, and putting into practice sustainable actions, isn’t something you have to do alone. The more people you can involve, and the more kids you can teach, means more individuals doing their part to reduce their carbon footprint.
It’s about what you do in every facet of life, from the way you use materials at home to what you buy. If you’re looking for businesses with sustainable practices, those that care about their carbon footprint, plastic use, water use, and renewable energy, check out IMPACT COLLECTIVE. Our community of members are all committed to making small changes with a big impact on our environment, just like you are trying to do with your own family.