How to teach an environmentally friendly lifestyle to your kids?
Photo by Zen Chung from Pexels
For a greener future, we have to make sure the coming generations are aware of the current environmental issues and are responsible for our planet. However, how do you explain the detrimental effects of climate change to a child? Simply put, show instead of telling! Including your kids in activities that teach them about the environment and nurturing positive habits in them from an early age are more than possible. Here’s how to do it.
Start with yourself
Kids learn by observing us, so your preaching will be hardly effective if you don’t practice your ideas yourself. So, make sure the environmentally-friendly practices you instill in your kids are an organic part of your lifestyle. Teaching by example is going to be the most effective, so start with yourself and evaluate your own habits. That is a perfect opportunity for the whole family to grow together.
Take them outside
To make children understand the importance of preserving our environment, the best strategy is to take them closer to nature. Show your kids how beautiful and exciting the world around us is. Frequent parks and go on family outings. Observe plants and animals together, and be sure to actually show enthusiasm when your child finds something interesting and wants to show it to you. If they learn to appreciate nature, they will be more likely to care about protecting it as they grow.
Two wheels instead of four
The next way to instill environmentally-friendly habits in your children is by choosing your means of transport with its eco-footprint in mind. When you’re heading somewhere close, instead of turning on your car engine, get everyone on their bikes. It not only saves gas and reduces your carbon emissions, but it also gets all of you out in the fresh air. In addition, by this, you might create a lifelong habit in your children that will benefit both the planet and their own health in the long run.
Mind their clothes
You probably already know that discarded clothing is a serious problem today. According to statistics, we throw away 85% of our clothes, which mostly end up in landfills as they are notoriously difficult to recycle. Teaching your kids responsibility for their clothes will make those clothes’ lifespan longer and cut back on wasteful buying. Teach them how to patch up their own clothes, donate their outgrown pieces together, consider getting secondhand clothing, find new uses for clothes that cannot be worn anymore… The possibilities are endless.
Make use of your garden
Involving your kids in some garden work can be very beneficial for their understanding of the environment. Even just a small outdoor space is enough to get them into gardening and teach them how to grow their own food in a sustainable way. Start with low-maintenance vegetables to ensure success. In addition, you can also look into the basics of composting and cut down on your waste while giving your garden a healthy boost. Instead of throwing out kitchen scraps, collect them. Let your kids throw the waste onto the pile themselves. If they don’t find this interesting enough, consider adding earthworms to the mix.
Conserve water and energy
Conserving resources is another staple in an eco-friendly lifestyle. Teaching kids that electricity costs money—and so much more—is the first step towards a household with a minimal eco-footprint. Above all, an overhaul of their bathroom habits may be in place. Show your kids just how much water we use (and waste) in a single day and explain to them why water is so valuable. Create fun challenges that will get them more involved in conserving water—get a shower timer or create a competition about who can save more. Additionally, switch wasteful bathroom fixtures like faucets and showerheads. You can also upgrade your bathroom with one of the practical bidets on the market that helps you save heaps on toilet paper while improving your personal hygiene.
Reusable is key
Finally, teaching kids about the negative sides of plastic is paramount. Instead of just saying that plastic is bad, explain why and how alternative materials are less harmful to the environment and wildlife around us. Show a good example yourself: instead of going for plastic bags at the grocery store, carry reusable ones. Get your kids excited about reusable packaging by using cute lunchboxes for their snacks instead of wrapping them in plastic. When shopping together, encourage them to find products that use responsible packaging. Create a challenge of minimizing the amount of non-recyclable waste your family generates in a week.
Kids are very susceptible to learning, so you don’t have to worry that it’s too early to teach them the importance of living in an eco-friendly manner. Lead by example and gamify things if you need to—environmentally-friendly habits are indispensable for the future of our planet.
Author BIO
Alison Pearson is an interior design student. She is a writer and designer, and her ultimate passion is art and architecture. She is also a bibliophile and her favorite book is “The Sound and the Fury” by William Faulkner. Follow her on Twitter.