Teaching Kids to Go Green With 5 Eco Tips For Children

Going green and teaching kids to go green can be easy and fun.  Here are 5 eco tips for children to help introduce them to the idea of going green and help them to adopt new more eco friendly habits.

5 Eco Tips For Children

1.) Teach Kids To Go Green Around the House.

Two easy green habits to get your children into are turning off the water at the bathroom sink while brushing teeth, and turning off lights any time they leave a room. Home is also the perfect place to teach your children about recycling and separating paper, plastic and aluminum into separate bins. Young children can rinse and crush their own cans (kids love the crushing part!), rinse out their empty milk jugs, remove the plastic bag from a cardboard cereal box and separate each into the appropriate bin. Another important learning opportunity for young children is holding random “Donation Days” throughout the year, where you ask your child to pick out the things he or she no longer uses to donate to other children, explaining how donation is another way to keep their old belongings from ending up in a yucky landfill.

2.) Teaching Kids to Go Green in the Garden.

Demonstrating to your children the value of growing one’s own food is a great way to teach your child how to live a green lifestyle. Explain to your child how for every berry, veggie, or herb grown in your garden, you will purchase less of those items from the grocery store. Allow your children to help you plant seeds, water your produce, and pick weeds children love being outdoors, getting dirty and working with their hands! If they grow tired of garden chores, enlist your children’s help in making a scarecrow using old household items and used clothing! Gardens and the bugs and birds that go along with them also present great opportunities for teaching children about nature and about environmentally friendly gardening.

3.) Kids Can Learn to Go Green at the Farmer’s Market.

This is a great place to teach your children about organic foods and sustainable farming. Here you can talk to your children about how supporting local farmers helps the environment by involving less packaging and keeping more big trucks off the road that must travel long distances to carry food, leaving a hefty carbon footprint in their wake.

4.) Teaching Kids To Go Green on Walks.

Walks are not only a great opportunity for you and your children to get some exercise together, but it’s also a great way of explaining to your children that anytime you can walk somewhere instead of driving somewhere you are being good to the environment. You can also turn your walk into a beautification project by bringing along gloves and sacks for your children to use when they spot trash along the journey. You’d be surprised how these outings turn into treasure hunts! Speaking of which, if you bring kids backpacks on your nature walks you can have some fun, educational scavenger hunts and identify different species of plants and talk about the different parts of plants and their purposes.

5.) Teach Kids to Go Green at the Grocery Store.

At the store, you can explain to your children that using reusable tote bags keeps plastic bags from ending up forever in landfills. The grocery store is also an opportunity to talk to your children about certified organic products and the importance of buying earth-friendly products and all-natural foods.  Teach kids that we can vote with our wallets by making green consumer choices.

Teaching Kids To Go Green Is Simple

If you are were wondering how to teach kids to go green, the biggest step is opening the door by explaining to them what it means to go green.  Naturally, children will want a healthier planet to live on and do their best to implement the eco tips for children that you teach them.

There are many more ways to go green everyday and help your kids learn about their choices. My daughter loves to recycle things out of my recycling bin by doing crafts! What are some of your favorite ways of teaching kids to go green and make green lifestyle choices?

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