Earth Day (April 22) is celebrated as the birth of the environmental movement. It began in the United States in 1970 and by 1990 over 200 million people in 141 nations celebrated the first International Earth Day.
Every year more than 500 million people in over 180 countries participate in activities and events to make people aware that our planet is in jeopardy. Earth day was created to spark a revolution against environmental abuse but we don’t have to wait for Earth Day to do our part and to teach our children how even the little things count when it comes to preserving our planet.
Children learn by example, and you as a parent or caregiver can make a huge difference in how Eco-conscious your kids are now and how they will be as adults. You can teach your kids that even though they are small they have an important role to play in the ways that they can help care for this planet.
Have a discussion with your children and see how many things on the following list you can implement so that your family can do your part to make our planet a nicer place for now and for future generations.
1. Turn off lights and other things that use electricity (TVs, stereos, computers etc) when not in use.
2. Use rechargeable batteries whenever possible
3. Use fans or swamp coolers (evaporative coolers) instead of air conditioners
4. Use recycled paper and/ or recycle it
5. Do not let the water run continuously when brushing your teeth or doing dishes
6. Replace regular light bulbs with compact florescent light bulbs
7. Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible and use less hot water
8. REDUCE, REUSE, & RECYCLE and bring recycle programs to schools
9. Buy environmentally friendly cloth bags when you shop to eliminate plastic grocery bags
10. Buy products with little or no packaging
11. Buy recycled products such as toilet tissue
12. Whenever possible walk or take public transportation
13. Insulate your home and hot water heater
14. Buy local produce as much as possible
15. Use environmentally friendly cleaning products
16. Never litter and if you see litter pick it up whenever possible and dispose in the proper receptacle
17. Support products that are harvested from the rainforest but have not cut down trees to get it such as fair trade shade grown coffee instead of sun grown
18. Plant trees
19. Use lunch boxes instead of paper bags and plastic containers for sandwiches that can be reused instead of plastic bags
20. Save Christmas and Birthday gift wrapping paper to reuse again
21. Replace old appliances with “power smart” ones when they no longer work
22. Attach water saver devices to your shower and replace old toilets with low flow ones
These are just a few of things that you can do to help our planet. See how many more things you can come up with as a family to add to the list?