…reduce, reuse, recycle!
When I was teaching in the inner city, I was continually annoyed at how wasteful my students were. It didn’t matter how old they were. Fifth graders destroyed puzzle boxes as quickly as my Kindergartners, and every year I had to take each class through intensive training on why we put waste paper in a separate box from the trash.
After getting a few years of teaching under my belt, it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, the reason the kiddos were so careless and apparently ignorant was that they hadn’t been taught to conserve resources before. Maybe I was the first adult in their life to make a big deal about caring for the planet.
Through my experience with my former students, and now with my almost three-year-old son, Benjamin, who loves to “help”, I have learned some tricks on encouraging kids to get interested in the three R’s of reduce, reuse, recycle. Off the top of my head, here are eight.
1. Begin training your children to reduce waste as early as possible. Already, Benjamin is learning not to turn the water on full force when washing his hands (not that he doesn’t when Mommy’s not looking, but this age is seed-planting time, right?). Children as young as three and four can be taught to put certain types of waste into recycle bins. By the time a child is five or six years old, he or she should understand that making a couple marks on a piece of paper, and then throwing it away is a BIG no-no.
2. Buy and play “green” games. Garden- Opoly
3. Read stories and books that illustrate green concepts. A classic example–and a childhood favorite of mine–is The Wump World
4. Model the behavior you want your children to learn. Do you want your kids to learn to recycle paper and use less water? Let them see you do it, consistently, day after day. On the other hand, if your kids never see you picking up trash in the park, why should they? Explain to your children why you conserve, why you recycle, and then do it in front of them as often as possible.
5. Use clean trash for crafts. Got empty toilet paper tubes? Bottle caps? Save up a few of these and other kinds of “clean trash” for a rainy day. Then give the supplies, along with glue and markers, to your kids and let their imaginations run wild!
6. Explain why you do what you do. If you combine errands to conserve gas and lessen air pollution, for example, your children–especially the older ones–can understand, and will be a step closer to recognizing the importance of living more lightly.
7. Make recycle bins convenient for them. If your recycle bins are located in an inconvenient or forbidden area (such as the back of the garage), your kids won’t learn to use them(and you may not, either!). Keep them in a convenient place within reach, and when they recycle something without being reminded, lavish them with praise.
8. Visit a landfill. To really make an impact on your children about what wasteful living does to the environment, take them to a dump. In this case, a picture may be worth a million words!
Teaching children how to reduce, reuse and recycle–as well as the why–doesn’t have to be a chore. Try some of these ideas, and watch your kids soar to a new level of “green.”
**************************
Learn the principles of living in optimum health.
Looking for natural, chemical-free treatments and cures that work? Try undiluted, unadulterated essential oils.
There is no better supplement than Masaji. Find out how it changed my life here.
You’re improving your health; ready to get really free? Check out my other blog, freetoliveyourdreams.com.
