AS PARENTS, we want to teach our children many things such as good manners, personal hygiene, and the value of a dollar.
Teaching them about living a greener lifestyle should be no different. After all, they are the ones who will be the caretakers of the planet after we are gone. There are many lessons to be taught about how to make them stewards of Earth.
Recycling
Throughout the world, recycling is becoming more and more a common practice. Not only households, but businesses, schools and government agencies have made strides in creating programs to reduce and reuse waste. Guam has recently rolled out its Curbside Recycling Service, making recycling much easier. Get kids involved, put them in charge of the recycling chores. This is a great way to teach them about household consumables that can be recycled.
Visit a recycling center with your children to show them how the materials they collect are recycled into materials that can be reused. It is important that children learn that the community recycles.
Be creative, go online and look for projects that reuse household containers. I have seen such crafts as flowers from plastic bottles or glass jars turned into candleholders.
Be creative, go online and look for projects that reuse household containers. I have seen such crafts as flowers from plastic bottles or glass jars turned into candleholders.
Create a compost area using vegetable and fruit scraps that can be used to fertilize gardens. What a great example of recycling, using discarded vegetable and fruits to grow new vegetables and fruits.
When shopping, teach kids how to read the symbols for recycling and to purchase items that can be refilled. Explain how too much waste in our landfills can be dangerous to our environment and to wildlife.
Energy conservation
Not only does energy conservation at home reflect in your monthly power bills, but it also prepares children – no matter their age – to prevent pollution and protect the environment. Our children utilize much more power than we did as kids, from video games, to computers, to cellphones.
Help kids understand what energy is and where it comes from. Inform them that energy can come from many resources and teach them the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy. Remind them our planet needs their help in conserving energy and that coal and oil can only last so long before it is all gone. Using too much of certain types of energy can also pollute our environment. Inform them that the less energy we use, the less impact we have on the Earth keeping it cleaner and healthier.
Energy is needed to survive to keep our food safe from spoiling, to stay cool, or do our homework. Get kids involved at an early age; the sooner they become energy-conscious, the more energy they will save. Here are some things they can do:
- Unplug their cellphone chargers from the wall when their cellphone is done charging.
- Turn off lights, TVs and other electronics when they are not using them.
- Teach them to put their computers on sleep function or turn them off when not being used
- Not to block air conditioner vents and keep them free of dust.
- Don’t stand in front of the refrigerator with the door open.
- Open drapes to let natural light in.
Teaching our children about recycling and energy conservation ensures our planet will be healthy and sustainable for generations to come. Our kids learn a lot about recycling and energy conservation from movies, such as The Lorax, school and online. Remember that good habits are not learned but ingrained by example and by practicing them daily. You are your children’s best example; if they see you taking steps to leave the world a better place, they will learn from your actions, which they will pass down for generations to come.