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.
Showing posts with label take action. Show all posts
Showing posts with label take action. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Create Your Own Awesome
So, a while back, I learned something important about myself.
I am truly great at having great ideas... and not doing anything about them. Like wanting to spend time with the wonderful women I work with outside of work, but not setting something up so we could hang out. Or making more time for my craftiness, and learning new crafting skills, and spending time with people I enjoy- who also would love to make more time for their craftiness. Or writing about being a parent and caregiver, and inspiring a great conversation for someone who may need a little inspiration in their lives. Or the million and one other great things that I would love to do and incorporate into my life, but just haven't yet.
But, here's the thing. Having these great ideas is a good thing; my lack of action on them was not. I kept thinking how great it would be to spend more time socializing with people I like and respect, but didn't take the next step into doing something about it. Same with the rest of it. Until one day, it hit me... Why not be the change I wanted to see and experience? Why couldn't I set up a get-together for my friends and co-workers? What was stopping me? NOTHING! Just myself, not taking the time to utilize the Facebook event setting to set up meeting with my friends. And so I did... And it was great! We had a wonderful time, with so many laughs, ending with several of us standing in the parking lot of the restaurant we met at, extending the talking and laughter a little later.
I finally started this blog, after seeing/reading the one posted by my brother in law, Hiker Adventures, and another child care mom, Country Acres Momma. I enjoy reading their adventures and advice, and thought, "Why not!?" You just gotta dive in sometimes.
These two things are kinda the brackets on my taking action revelation and effort. I did begin to truly intentionally make these efforts and changes with setting up time with friends from work. It is great when we can all get there, but still fun when it is just a couple of us. There is always fun and laughter, and the opportunity to connect with someone that I may not see on a day to day basis is great for me.
I am loving sharing my experiences as a mom and child care provider. I truly hope that I am giving people something to think about, to help make their experience with their child and their child's village of family and caregivers that much richer.
I am truly enjoying myself and my life so much more, now that I have that many fewer "I wish I would have..."s going on. Not that I am getting to everything, but one thing at a time. :)
So, tonight or tomorrow, pick one thing that you want. Make it happen! There are classes and shops and opportunities everywhere. Make your life what you want to see. :)
Well, I'm off to check on the craft night I am setting up... Good luck!
I am truly great at having great ideas... and not doing anything about them. Like wanting to spend time with the wonderful women I work with outside of work, but not setting something up so we could hang out. Or making more time for my craftiness, and learning new crafting skills, and spending time with people I enjoy- who also would love to make more time for their craftiness. Or writing about being a parent and caregiver, and inspiring a great conversation for someone who may need a little inspiration in their lives. Or the million and one other great things that I would love to do and incorporate into my life, but just haven't yet.
But, here's the thing. Having these great ideas is a good thing; my lack of action on them was not. I kept thinking how great it would be to spend more time socializing with people I like and respect, but didn't take the next step into doing something about it. Same with the rest of it. Until one day, it hit me... Why not be the change I wanted to see and experience? Why couldn't I set up a get-together for my friends and co-workers? What was stopping me? NOTHING! Just myself, not taking the time to utilize the Facebook event setting to set up meeting with my friends. And so I did... And it was great! We had a wonderful time, with so many laughs, ending with several of us standing in the parking lot of the restaurant we met at, extending the talking and laughter a little later.
I finally started this blog, after seeing/reading the one posted by my brother in law, Hiker Adventures, and another child care mom, Country Acres Momma. I enjoy reading their adventures and advice, and thought, "Why not!?" You just gotta dive in sometimes.
These two things are kinda the brackets on my taking action revelation and effort. I did begin to truly intentionally make these efforts and changes with setting up time with friends from work. It is great when we can all get there, but still fun when it is just a couple of us. There is always fun and laughter, and the opportunity to connect with someone that I may not see on a day to day basis is great for me.
I am loving sharing my experiences as a mom and child care provider. I truly hope that I am giving people something to think about, to help make their experience with their child and their child's village of family and caregivers that much richer.
I am truly enjoying myself and my life so much more, now that I have that many fewer "I wish I would have..."s going on. Not that I am getting to everything, but one thing at a time. :)
So, tonight or tomorrow, pick one thing that you want. Make it happen! There are classes and shops and opportunities everywhere. Make your life what you want to see. :)
Well, I'm off to check on the craft night I am setting up... Good luck!
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