Happy Earth Day! Today there will be all kinds of activities and events going on in communities everywhere to honor our planet. Here on Kid Planet, every day is Earth Day, as our family strives to minimize the impact we have on our Earth. Below are some simple ways that you can alter your lifestyle, and none of them cost any (extra) money!
1. As soon as your children are tall enough to reach the light switches, teach them to turn off the light when they leave a room. You might even want to assign one child to be the lights monitor, as a household chore, and have him/her go around the house to make sure unused lights are off.
Turn off the lights!
2. Buy a set of small re-usable containers with lids and buy food in “bulk” to put in your kids’ school lunches instead buying of prepackaged individual servings. Now, when I say “bulk” here, I don’t mean that you have to join a food co-op or buy your food at Sam’s Club, although it’s fine if you do. Just go to your regular grocery store and buy the big jar of applesauce and the big 32 oz container of yogurt. Scoop out enough to fill one of those small re-usable containers, and presto! You’ve got an individual serving for perfect for a school lunch! P.S. I know you’re wondering how this can be considered “free” since I suggested you buy some containers. The few dollars you spend on them will quickly be canceled out by buying the bigger quantities of food to put in those containers instead of the more expensive individually packaged servings.
3. If you still find yourself buying the little containers of yogurt sometimes, teach your child to bring them home instead of throwing them out in the lunch room if you can recycle that type of plastic.
4. Stop using those plastic baggies in your kids’ school lunches. Instead, use the small re-usable containers I mentioned earlier.
5. If you do get plastic shopping bags, be sure to recycle them. Many stores, such as Kohl’s and Walmart, have big bins set up in their stores where you can recycle those bags.
6. Have your kids help with the recycling on a daily basis in your house. Our 6-year-old loves to play “Recycling Man” and willingly helps with garbage and recycling!
Teach your kids to recycle
7. Check periodically with your community’s recycling program to find out what items you can recycle. A few years ago, our township started accepting plastic containers #1-#7, not just the standard #1 and #2. Then a few months ago, they started accepting Styrofoam! This was not publicized, however, so I called the recycling company when I heard about it to make sure I had the correct information. Make sure you stay in touch with your local recycling company.
8. Recycle your basics. In this day and age, just about every community is set up to recycle paper, glass and metal. Even if you can’t recycle other stuff like Styrofoam or various plastics, you should be able to recycle the basics.
9. Take your own bags to ANY store when you go shopping, not just to the grocery store. Get into the habit of keeping them in the car so that you always have them when you are out running errands.
10. Turn off the water when you aren’t actually using it! One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone lets water run constantly while washing dishes. It seems to be a thing of the past to plug up the kitchen sink, fill it with water and a squirt of dish soap, and wash the dishes. These days people seem much more likely to use one of those scrubbers that you fill with dishwashing liquid to wash dishes under running water! Not only are they wasting dozens of gallons of water, they are using much more soap than is necessary. If you absolutely refuse to fill up the sink to wash your dishes, here are two suggestions: 1) Wash a big bowl/pot that you’ve gotten dirty first. As you’re washing it, fill it with water and use that water to wash your other dishes or 2) After getting the dish you’re washing wet, turn off the water while you scrub it and then turn it back on to rinse off the soap. And, for Pete’s sake, turn off the water when you brush your teeth and wash your hands, and teach your kids to do the same thing!
Save water, save the planet!
If, upon reading these tips, you discover that you have already made these alterations in your life, good for you! Let this post serve as a reminder that you are on the right track. You are making a conscious effort to live a greener life. Please share with our readers what steps you and your family have taken to go green!
