Being environmentally friendly and caring for the planet is crucial and instilling these values in young children is important for their future and our Earth’s. You can teach this children in a number of ways, and if and when your kids ask you ‘why? I’m just one person.’ Countries around the world are implementing some pretty cool solutions to overcome the water scarcity problems and finding some pretty cool solutions and everyone can do their part, starting from their household. 

Imagine if 5 people do individual things and their part… if 5,000 people did, if 500,000 people did… 5 million. Think of that impact.  

Parents can teach their kids to be more eco friendly and conscious about the environment in a number of ways.

Here are some things to teach your kids to be eco-conscious well as how how you can do so:

Recycling 

Recycling cuts down on the waste that impacts our environment. Many recycling facilities cannot accept a portion of trash if not recycled properly, so it is important to teach your children how to recycle properly and for them to adapt the habit early on. 

Start by teaching your kids about recyclable and non-recyclable items. 

It is impactful to go to the waste facility in your area so they can visually see how recycled items are organized, processed and disposed of. You can even make recycling a fun activity by doing an art project to illustrate what items go in what bins at home.

Conserving water

There are water shortages all over the world and conserving this resource is not only responsible, but also an eco conscious move. Teach your kids about water problems and how important it is to avoid wasting resources.

Water problems to share with them include: lack of health, sanitation issues, lack of crops, and more. 

Solutions for how they can conserve water and make a difference is to turn off the tap when not using the water while brushing their teeth, to take shorter showers, and to be mindful of any water that they use. 

Not wasting food

Food waste is one of the biggest products of waste, not to mention unnecessary waste. Make conscious shopping a goal and come up with meal plan together that use everything in the fridge. 

A fun activity to do is to have a family challenge by weighing how much food waste you produce as a family for every meal and sum of the day. Start by taking your first weigh-in on a normal day, then create a family goal of 0 and see what creative ways you can get there together. 

At the end of the day, remember that your kids see how you manage your family’s food waste and kitchen and they will ultimately learn habits from you. So while you teach them about not wasting food, fine-tune your own habits for the greatest individual, family and environmental impact. 

Planting trees and plants

Having a respect for nature and even a start of understanding for it will help your child grow to become an eco-conscious child naturally as they become aware of and mindful of nature. You can make it a family activity by going hiking or on a stroll outside on the weekends, planting a tree on birthdays or for the fresh start of the New Year, etc. 

There are many interesting documentaries and films that are appropriate for older children and this can also be very educational. Everyone learns differently, and for everyone, seeing the impact you can make and visually learn about being eco-friendly and its importance can make a long-standing impact. 


Vicky Charles

Vicky is a single mother, writer and card reader.

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