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It is becoming pretty obvious that teaching our kids all about green living is a necessity. Our country is such a wasteful country in some aspects and we all need to be more thoughtful about the way we live and take care of our earth and being Eco friendly. Recently, we have been talking about Living Green with Jude. Jude is a typical wasteful preschooler – he leaves lights on, he runs the water too long, he throws away food and he leaves his battery powered toys/games on when he isn’t playing them. While I know these are all normal behaviors for a 4 year old, we have really been trying to make these behaviors a teachable moment for him. After doing some research I found some great tips on how to introduce green living to kids.
6 Living Green Tips For Kids
Gardening: Teaching a child to garden is not only a lot of fun but full of teachable moments. This summer we started our first garden and Jude loved it. This spring we plan on expanding our garden which will hopefully give us more fresh foods. So what does this have to do with living green? Gardening is an Eco friendly activity that will teach children responsibility and pride in their crops. We taught Jude about eating the fruits and veggies that we grew and why it was important to not waste those homegrown goodies. This activity is a great starting point to eating healthier as well.
Recycling: We are so lucky in our neighborhood to have a recycling program that comes along with our trash pick up. This means that both of our children have seen us recycling items from the time they could see. Recycling teaches kids how to take care of their environment, but also teaches them not to waste. Have the kids recycle cereal boxes, glass containers, newspapers, magazines and junk mail. You can make this into a game that involves sorting out the different types of items and putting them in their special bins for points. Once the kids are older we plan on making recycling a chore option for them.
Eco Batteries: How many toys and games in your house use batteries? Honestly, we have too many to even give you an estimate and because of this we are buying a lot of batteries. Energizer has created something new that has really changed the way we buy our batteries. The New Energizer EcoAdvanced batteries is Energizer’s longest lasting alkaline ever and it is totally green! This is the first battery on the market to use recycled batteries/materials! Basically Energizer is taking old batteries and making new ones for more energy. The ultimate recycling! Now we make sure to buy the batteries for all of the toys and games that the kids use – thankfully they come in AA and AAA, perfect for most toys! Now we just need to keep hounding the kids about leaving their toys and games running!
Transportation: We all need some extra exercise and activity and to make sure our carbon foot print is even bigger by over usage from driving we should all try to walk more when possible. Simple steps – instead of driving to the park, walk there and walk home. Talk about the perfect way to get a family work out in! Need to pick up a few groceries, walk to the nearest store – enjoy the outdoors and breath the fresh air, it is good for your body! If we start this habit in our children at a young age, hopefully the habit will continue when they are adults.
Turn off the Lights: I do not know how many times that phrase is said in our home every day. Jude will close his door as he walks out and then leaves his light on, it drives me crazy! We have had this discussion a lot recently. All about how the lights use energy and that energy costs money and in order to keep the earth healthy we need to use less energy. I hope we are getting through to him but once we do, we will be dealing with the same issue with Teagan! Oh parenthood!
Conserve that Water: Okay, sometimes we let the water run too much and it isn’t always the kids fault. Sure, when Jude washes his hands he lets the water run and run but there are also times that I am guilty of this. All because I want to make my kitty happy! You see, Sophie loves drinking fresh cold tap water. So, we are ALL working on turning the water off! This is a great tip to teach kids because water is not unlimited, sure it seems like it is always there when we turn on the faucet but it a precious resource that we need to be thoughtful about using.
What responsible choices have you made as a family to contribute to a more Eco Friendly lifestyle?
I need to be better about recycling with my kids. Thanks for the tips.
I remember my parents drilling us about turning off the lights and the water. Good for the wallet and the environment!
Great tips!! We've been teaching our daughter about recycling, and having her show us which items go in the trash can and what goes in the recycling bin! It's a fun game for her! Now we need to work on turning off lights!!! She likes ALL of them on! #client
I just bought a pack of these and they are great so far! PS: Jude is setting the cuteness factor here.
I like this alot Kids should know the importance of being Green and also respect their environment from a young age as this has several far reaching benefits
Kids are never too young to learn about saving the environment
great tips mentioned. We have a garden in our back yard so we can grow and show our produce. We use candles to conserve on light bulbs and use power strips for appliances. My kids love to recycle.
We have to do so many reminders for energy saving in our house, sometimes they think we own the electric company
These are great tips!!! I love that you are teaching your kids to garden!! It is certainly a great thing to do!!
I am big on teaching my kids on how to be green. I believe you have to teach them young.
I have taught my kids most of these green tips. Great article!
Yeah! We do all of this! We're doing good!
These are great tips! So wonderful to get kids started being environmentally conscious.
I love that the batteries are eco-friendly. We teach the kids green tips here too, and so thankfully do their teachers.
It is good to teach kids about this. My grandchildren love to garden.
Our kids are going to grow up to be so much more eco-conscious and that's such a great thing! I'll have to look for those batteries next time I'm at the store.
These are really great tips. We should all do more of these.
Great tips for kids. We practice all of these in our house!
Great tips! We definitely do the gardening and eco friendly batteries but my kids could use more lessons on turning off lights and conserving water.
We recycle daily and we re-purpose when we can! After reading all the ideas I went around un-plugging unused electronics! 🙂 Definitely going to get a bunch of these New Energizer EcoAdvanced Batteries!!
I think it's important to teach them at an early age. This helps drive the passion. If there's no passion, there's usually no commitment.
I use rechargable batteries. It cuts down on waste.
It is important to teach children about recycling when they are young. when we do they tend to embrace the idea and work towards it all their lives.
Gardening is one of my favorite skills to teach kids. My almost 5 year old is a gardening enthusiast as a result!
I really want to get my kids away from all of the electronics! They are always surrounded by TV and phones and games. They need to be more outside like these kids. I'm going to try to teach them things like gardening and just being outside. http://askhrgreen.org
Green living tips with kids can be a little harder, as most kids don't have that mindset. Remembering to turn off the lights can be hard enough for some kids. But teaching them gardening seems a little harder. Just starting them off by watering the plants sounds like a pretty good idea. Anyone can water plants. All your kids need is patience. http://askhrgreen.org
This is a great article and I hope it encourages people to start teaching their children to be eco-friendly at an early age! Ifrah Khan@GreenGlobalTravel