Want to Go Green? Tips to get You Started

 

Earth Day may have been thinking how you really want to live more green and teach your family how to conserve, want to Go Green? Tips to Get You Started.

Earth Day may have been thinking how you really want to live more green and teach your family how to conserve, want to Go Green? Tips to Get You Started.

Do want to raise a family who lives Green?

Perhaps your children have come home with some education about recycling or conserving energy that they learned in school and you would like to further enlighten them.

Going Green is not some huge household transformation and it will not uproot your entire lifestyle.

And Going Green means making small changes you make gradually.

Making your family aware and cautious so they learn where to conserve and think twice about purchases or trash items.

It is education, a tad bit of science class revisited and allowing our future generations to enjoy their land we will leave for them.

The Best Tool I have found

I will be writing a review of a book I was sent soon on my Blog. But I want to mention it here because I am now using it as a guide and a lot of what I am telling you I learned from the book.

It is new and from Disney Mickey & Friends.

It is called Go Green: A Family Guide to a Sustainable Lifestyle. I recommend you check it out and come visit Parenting Healthy soon for the full review.

Facts

Lets’ get you motivated and this is a great way to start the conversation off with your family! Give them facts.

Start a conversation and talk about concerns these facts raise and how you can make better choices to better help the environment.

Fact #1: Going Green starts with caring for ourselves

You must know what is good for yourself to understand and become empowered to know what is good for our planet.

Taking care of ourselves means connecting with others and learning how to live in the present.

You need to be aware of yourself and your health so that it translates to being aware to your environment and current issues.

To want to live and eat healthy means using foods that are real and natural-hence buying fruits and vegetables from the farmers or produce sections instead of canned and bagged items that create waste.

Our planet consists of many living things that depend on a healthy atmosphere and we are one of those living things.

Use the topic of going green with your family to introduce healthier choices and a happier hearts.

Fact #2: Recycling 1 aluminum can saves enough energy to let your TV run for 2-3 hours! 

This is a great way to choose a Recycling Boss of the house.

You may have a child that would love that role.

Paper is the easiest resource to recycle as far as the process goes.

Recycling also means donating clothes & furniture for reuse.

Give them bin and the tools they need and allow them to politely correct anyone who did not recycle appropriately.

Fact #3: Toys are made out of recycled plastic or wood. 

Next time you take the kids shopping, make a game out of seeing who can find the recycle logo on a toy to identify if it is reused materials.

If they see the brands they love putting care back into the environment, it will inspire them as well.

Changes you can make right now & how to transition

Food Footprint Change 

Did you make one child a Recycling Boss as mentioned above?

Make another child the Compost Boss! All organic food is appropriate for compost.

Vegetables & fruit are footprint friendly when you buy fresh and eliminate cans and packaging.

If you buy a lot of canned foods, take 3 meals a week and make a switch to fresh vegetables or fruit.

Taking the kids to a farm stand and allowing them to buy 1 vegetable and 1 fruit of choice for the shopping list is a great way to teach the kids to buy local and point out to them the farm they are supporting and the less cans and packaging.

Bring your own bags as well when you shop. Allow the kids to help pick a few fun bags out. You can get them from many stores for as low as $1!

House Footprint Changes

This one is the easiest change of all. Want to Go Green? Tips to get You Started.

You can make a child the Electricity Boss and give them the task of checking lights and things running that don’t need to be.

Do you have chore lists for the kids? On my son’s chore list, turning off the lights as he leaves the room is a task he can earn ‘bonus’ stars for.

Did you know that commercial car washes use less water then your garden hose when you wash your car yourself and the water drains into a sewage system most times, rather than into storm drains where our water animals live!

Take a trip to the car wash and talk about what animals are NOT getting all of the soap and suds in their water supply as you are coasting through the car wash!

Make your family aware in present situations 

This is quite easy and just opens up and maintains the topic of environment.

It is hard to not care about people once you connect with them and the same goes for nature and animals.

Do you walk the kids to the bus?

Try talking about what sounds you hear or have them collect things for the art bins-pinecones, rocks to paint, etc…

Driving on a road trip? Use rest stops to go to the bathroom.

Almost every rest stop I have stopped at has some sort of information poster explaining the area.

Read this out loud as a way to change the car-coma state.

Then use what you learned to talk about what you see as you drive.

This not only teaches them about their surroundings, but prevents you from buying cans of soda and snack bags you really did not need creating more waste by stopping at service stations.

I could keep going, but will leave you with just this for now!

I highly recommend making the kids ‘Bosses’ as you teach them to stay aware. Add bonuses to their chores for remembering their Green tasks.

Stop, read and look around to the sights and sounds around you and your home.

Get the kids involved!

So when you see shopping bags for sale, stop and pick one out and explain the importance of reusing bags.

Allow them to shop at a farm stand and watch for recycle logos on products and toys they use everyday.

Any step is a benefit to the environment. So if your entire family takes even just 2 or 3 new steps, think of the difference you are making!

Recycle, Reuse and Reduce themed reading; A Different way of Buying Used Closing, Getting The Most from Fruit and Small Space Gardening.

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4 Comments

  1. Avatar Lisa @ Crazy Adventures in Parenting
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