Green & Clean

I knew I was doing a decent job as a parent one day at the park, when my five year old daughter saw someone throw a potato chip bag on the ground. She wrinkled her nose in that cute way she has, looked at me, and said “he shouldn’t have done that. Littering is bad for the Earth.” And then she walked over, picked up the offending piece of litter, and threw it away in the trash can.

(Not just words, but action. That’s my girl!)

Anyway, all proud parenting anecdotes aside, I can tell you that it took effort to get to that point, and that it’s a continuing process. There are a few things we have done around our house that make environmentalism not just a buzz word, but a way of life.

1.Get Kids Outside and In Touch with Nature
From the time they were babies, our kids have been in gardens and in the woods, on beaches and in the back yard. They love the zoo, and can tell you more about polar bears and flamingos than most adults ever could. We’ve always encouraged them to grow something, and they not only help in our family’s vegetable garden, but have a plot of their own in which they grow whatever they want. This year, for example, it was an eclectic combination of bush beans, marigolds, nasturtiums, and tiny maple tree seedlings. What they grow matters less than that they take the time to plant, nurture, and observe something.

Besides the fact that nature makes us kinder to one another, getting kids outside and letting them be part of the natural world gives them a first-hand eduction in what exactly it is that we’re trying to save. They see themselves as part of nature, not as something above or apart from it.

2.Read to Your Kids
Of course, we should all be reading to our kids That goes without saying. To raise green kids, add some books about nature and environmentalism into the mix. I’m not saying you should read Silent Spring to your four year old. But classics such as The Lorax are always a good idea, as are any books about their favorite wild animals, plants, or ecosystems. There is nothing preachy or lecture-like in reading these types of books to your kids. It makes nature and environmentalism just one more part of their lives. My kids read plenty of Disney Princess books. But they also enjoy reading about horses, forests, and polar bears. For a few great suggestions for your child’s library, check out Mother Nature Network’s list of green children’s books.

3.Get Them Involved
Depending on your child’s age, there are many ways to get them involved in living green. At our house, the kids help with the gardening and harvesting, as well as adding food scraps to the compost piles, attending to the worm bins, and collecting recyclables from around the house. Let them help you bake the bread. Small children usually enjoy cleaning (wish that trend would continue as they get older…) and when you use homemade, non-toxic cleaners, you can let them help without worrying. Designate one child as a “light monitor” whose job is to ensure that lights are off when they aren’t needed. More than anything, make it fun and interesting. If it turns into a boring chore, they may become less than enamored with living green.

4. Lead by Example
“Do as I say, not as I do” just doesn’t cut it with kids. They can sense a smokescreen from a mile off, and are almost guaranteed to call you on it. Everything we do is observed, remembered, and eventually copied by our kids. No one is perfect, and I know I’ve made my share of slip ups. But part of living green and parenting in general is to keep improving, keep working toward living the best, most ecologically-responsible life you can. Maybe more than anything else, your kids will see that you tried, and that it was important enough to you to keep working at it. That is the type of lesson that will stay with them for a lifetime.

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