There’s no denying the climate crisis and other environmental issues we face today. Thankfully, reasonable heads are prevailing, and more people are looking for ways to live a more climate-friendly lifestyle. From implementing tips to make your home eco-friendly to ditching single-use items, people, companies, and communities are getting on board with making a difference.
As a parent, you know how important it is to instill good values and responsibility in your children, so it makes sense to incorporate sustainability in their minds. If you’re looking for tips to inspire sustainability in your children, keep reading for easy ways to make it happen.
Grow Your Own
Getting your children to eat healthily can feel like a monumental task. One way to work on picky eating and help the environment is by growing your food as a family. Even if you’re in a small apartment, you can start growing in buckets on a balcony or front entryway. Let your children choose some of the things you will plant and make a day out of starting your home garden.
If your children are very young, seed starter pods make planting a garden that will turn out successful easy. Talk to them about the process and watch their amazement and wonder as their produce grows. Most children are happy to try new veggies or fruits they’ve grown and harvested at home.
Recycling Duty
Children are naturally inclined to sort and tidy similar items. Giving your child the task of sorting recyclable items and keeping the recycling area in or outside your home tidy is a task in which they thrive. If your children are old enough to read, helping them distinguish symbols on the bottom and how to recycle them is important and a skill that will serve them for a lifetime.
Try Minimalism
While many people have opted for a life of minimalism for its mental health benefits, it’s also a great way to live a more sustainable and intentional lifestyle. There are many benefits to getting your children in the mindset that overly consuming anything from food to shopping is not eco-friendly. From saving you money or cheaply made toys to easy clean up in the family room and the benefit of fewer plastic toys donated or in landfills, your family has a lot to gain by trying minimalism or intentional living.
Getting Outside
These days it’s common to see teens scrolling aimlessly through their smartphones and even toddlers glued to a tablet. Getting your kids outside is not only beneficial to their overall health but also inspires a love for the planet. Inspiring a love for the great outdoors through walking together, outdoor play, and visiting local parks reminds your kids how beautiful it is and prioritizes keeping things clean.
Volunteering Together
Volunteering our time, energy, and talents is a great way to give back to our local communities and the planet. By getting your children in the habit of volunteering, whether cleaning up litter or planting trees, you can show them how their actions have an immediate and tangible benefit to the environment. If your child is an animal lover (and old enough), volunteering to help with rescued wildlife is a fun and rewarding way to help too!
Earth Friendly Crafts
Children love craft time, and making your crafting together more climate-conscious is easy. From making your own cloth napkins out of clothes that no longer fit them to making your clay and paint at home, you can have a lot of fun with sustainable materials with the bonus of knowing they’re non-toxic and safe for your kiddos!
Planting Trees
In the same way, children can learn about their food through gardening, so why not teach them the value of trees by planting more? Trees are critical to combat the climate crisis, and we lose millions daily. Around 42 million trees are cut down daily, which translates to 15 billion annually. Combat the harmful effects of this loss by planting trees in your yard as a family.
As you lead by example by living a more green lifestyle, your children will learn from you, and sustainability will become second nature. By instilling these values early, you can have peace of mind knowing your children will be beautiful stewards of this planet. Now, get growing!
Mark is the founder of Financial Pilgrimage, a blog dedicated to helping young families pay down debt and live financially free. Mark has a Bachelor’s degree in financial management and a Master’s degree in economics and finance. He is a husband of one and father of two and calls St. Louis, MO, home. He also loves playing in old man baseball leagues, working out, and being anywhere near the water. Mark has been featured in Yahoo! Finance, NerdWallet, and the Plutus Awards Showcase.
