I love Earth Day. Not that I don't give thought to how the choices I make and encourage in my family and friends affect the planet every day, but I love that there is a day dedicated to thinking about how we affect this planet we live on.
Now, I am not insistent that each and every choice be the most green/least environmentally unfriendly choice available. But I am glad that we do make the efforts that we do to use the resources we need with as little waste as we are able.
Some things we do:
1. Composting... I know it's not for everyone, and it took me a lot of thought to make the jump. But now, it's almost without thought that compostables go into a bucket to be taken out to our compost barrel. We are coming up on a nice batch of awesome compost to be tilled into the gardens to help our veggies grow.
2. Gardening and farmer's markets. This allows me to get as much produce as I can for my dollar, without having a lot of packaging to dispose of with it. Sure, there is one farmer's market that I go to that will put bushels of beans or tomatoes into garbage bags for me to transport them home.. But I need garbage bags anyway, so they are reused for that. Otherwise, they are sent for recycling.
3. Recycling. Helping keep recyclable trash out of landfills helps prevent piles of un-biodegradable trash from just sitting there, year after year. It also helps me to not need to purchase or use so many garbage bags, because we are able to use a single sort recycling cart.
4. Opting out of non-reusable trash where possible. If I don't bring extra trash home, I don't have to recycle it or throw it away. Both of which save room for the things I do need to dispose of, and makes our overall use less.
5. Getting the kids outside and using non-battery toys. I love being outside with my children. I will admit that there are days where my idea of being outside with them is me sitting in a lawn chair watching them play, but those days are balanced by the days that I go play with them in the sandbox or on the swings, or when we go for a walk or bike ride. Many of the toys we have don't use batteries, and several of the ones that do do not have working batteries in them- and my kids don't care! It's great that they will still use the toy as if it has batteries, but use their own imaginations for what the toy is saying or doing. :) Not relying on battery operated (or plug-in) toys decreases our need to dispose of used batteries, or having to buy rechargeable. I know that you may save with them in the long run, but I personally feel that rechargeable batteries need some tweaking and improvement before I really want to invest in them for the battery operated toys we keep working.
Getting outside and getting your hands dirty with caring for the Earth is a great way to teach children about so many things. Picking up trash along the road on your block invites the opportunity to talk about littering and the whys (besides the legal fine you could get) on properly disposing of your trash. Planting a tree can be a way to teach children about growing things, and the cycle of reliance between living things and plants (like the birds who will use the tree to support their nests, and the fruit or nuts you may be able to harvest). Planting a garden teaches children to appreciate where their food comes from, and allows them a part in getting it from seed to table.
Teaching children about reducing the waste they accumulate and reusing where they are able allows them to learn about really seeing what they have, as well as possibly encouraging them to share what they may not use with someone who has less.
Earth Day- and EVERY day- is a great opportunity to teach your child about caring for our environment, which in turn teaches them about caring for each other. There really is no learning about one without seeing the other in action.
Make every day Earth Day. Make every day count.
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