Involving your kids in eco-friendly practices at home can help them become familiar with green living at a young age. Developing eco-friendly habits will make your children more aware of their daily activities. How can parents get their kids to reduce, reuse, and recycle while embracing the basics of environmental responsibility? Discover three easy strategies that can help.
Grow Your Own Food
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Image via Flickr by Mt. Hood Territory
Growing your own food means that you can be confident that the vegetables on your table are free from chemicals and pesticides. Gardening is also one of the easiest and best activities to involve children. Planting your own vegetable garden and harvesting your own produce can be much fun.
Fortunately, you do not need acres of space to grow your own food. You can grow your own vegetables in pots and planters, which means you can easily use the space on rooftops, sidewalks, and balconies as little gardens. Some herbs and vegetables that grow well in pots include coriander, mint, lettuce, bush greens, and carrots.
Carry Water From Home
Bottled water is expensive and may not be safer or cleaner than your home’s tap water. Most of the bottled water on the market is filtered tap water. Think about the fact that your municipal water supply is monitored constantly for quality, and results of water testing are made public.
Unless they are recycled, many plastic bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is safe for bottled beverages such as mineral water and soft drinks. On the other hand, frequent use of the bottles means that you are contributing to greater consumption of plastic bottles. Have your kids carry water from your home’s water supply using reusable bottles. If you’re concerned about impurities, you can use a water filter in your home to improve the taste of your water.
Lead by Example
As a parent, you are one of the most powerful role models for your kids, which makes leading by example a great way to teach your children about being environmentally friendly. You may talk about saving the environment and the perils of not adopting an environmentally friendly lifestyle, but if you are not practicing what you preach, you likely aren’t creating the right impression.
Start with simple tasks such as separating garbage or involving your kids in DIY projects around the home. Another way of getting your kids involved in creating an eco-friendly home is by taking proactive steps toward reducing your home’s energy consumption as examples they can imitate. Turning off the TV and lights and powering down computers when no one is using them are simple behaviors that your kids can emulate.
Many environmentally conscious parents tend to forget that they can include their kids in their eco-friendly activities. Fortunately, raising children who are aware of their environmental impacts is not difficult. Everyone has a role in teaching the current generation the importance of protecting the environment, especially in light of dwindling natural resources.
An eco-friendly home involves more than the three Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle). It is also about making your kids aware of how they can contribute toward reducing their carbon footprint.
