Eco-friendly

Living an eco-friendly lifestyle, or “living green,” involves creating zero waste and minimizing damage to the earth’s natural resources. This includes the diverse range of life in any area, such as animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms like bacteria. It also aims to reduce our carbon footprint. Green living helps mitigate climate change’s impacts, such as increased temperatures, longer winters, severe storms, droughts, and rising sea levels. Embracing an eco-friendly lifestyle can bring financial benefits and contribute to happier, healthier homes. In essence, it involves adopting an ecological way of life.

 

Instilling green living in children

Eco-friendly habits should be taught to children early in homes and at school. These habits will be ingrained in them and will help educate future generations. Children are like sponges and are more likely to mimic adult behavior so setting good sustainable examples for them is important. Here are a few tips to help:

 

Training: Teach children how to separate their garbage. They should put regular trash in one bin and recyclable items like plastic bottles and containers in another. It’s important to educate them about the harm that plastic causes to the environment. Consider buying biodegradable garbage bags for your bins, as they break down more quickly than plastic, which takes years. When choosing a brand, make sure the garbage bag is certified as biodegradable.

 

Beach Clean Up: Take the children on a trip to the beach or seaside for a cleanup and consider doing this with a community group. Make sure to wear the right eco-friendly gloves and use eco-friendly garbage bags to collect waste.

There is a global overproduction of plastic, and millions of plastics end up in oceans, harming marine life. Many marine animals mistake plastic for food and ingest it, leading to death. Countries like Jamaica observe International Coastal Cleanup Day, where plastic is the most collected material. Plastic litters the environment, blocks water channels, leading to flooded streets, and pollutes water resources. The production and extraction of plastic emits vast amounts of greenhouse gases.

Purchase reusable water bottles for the kids to take to school, and ensure they are not made from plastic. Also, consider buying juice and drinks that are packaged in a box or a glass bottle.

 

Water conservation: The use of water should be managed carefully and efficiently. It’s important to teach children the significance of this and explain why it’s crucial to ensure that pipes are turned off properly. Additionally, they can be taught conservation methods such as using a basin of water to wash their hands and then using the same water to water plants. When changing the pet’s drinking water, it’s advisable not to throw it away but to use it for watering plants, as well as the wastewater from the kitchen.

 

Rainwater harvesting: This is another useful method to add nutrients to plants, especially during drought periods. Let the children place a drum strategically in an area where the water runs off heavily, for example, a section of the roof. If you have a balcony you can use a bucket. Take them to look at how much water goes in the drum each time it rains. When it’s time to water the plants let them use water from the container. Ensure that the drum or bucket has a cover to avoid mosquito breeding.

 

Energy conservation: Encourage children to be energy champions by rewarding them with stickers for turning off the light switch when they leave a room. Praise them when they recognize and turn off lights left on deliberately. Teach children to unplug their devices when not in use or whenever fully charged. Show them how to use the fridge efficiently and not open the door unnecessarily. Let them keep water for the day in a cooler within their reach. Depending on where you live and if your house is solar-powered, have the children open windows to cool the room instead of the air conditioner. Reducing your energy consumption not only lessens your electricity bill and saves you money but it reduces your carbon footprint.

 

Compost bin: This activity will bring fun and laughter to the children. Get a bin and label it “Compost” with a smiley face sticker. Then explain to the kids that the bin is used to dispose of biodegradable waste. Teach them examples of what falls in that category such as eggshells, food scraps, vegetables, spoiled fruits, paper, cardboard, coffee grounds, and tea bags among other things. Allow them to take the waste from the kitchen and place it in the bin.

Composting turns organic waste into healthy soil, so it is useful to start a garden so you can utilize it. Most kitchen waste can be used as organic material for composting. The result is nutrient-rich soil and fertilizer when broken down by bacteria that feed on the materials during the process.

 

Gardening: For people with space to plant, start a garden with the kids. Firstly, plow an area that you will use for the garden, place the waste from the bin in the earth, cover it with soil, and leave it for a few weeks before planting. Another way is to add soil to the waste in the bin periodically and keep tuning it within a few months the organic matter will break down to form rich soil and fertilizer. You can teach the kids both methods. Vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumber, sweet pepper, and hot pepper you can get seeds from. Wash the seeds in a strainer after removing them from the vegetables to get rid of the mucus that covers them, show the kids how to plant the seeds, and care for the seedlings when they germinate.

 

Award:  Improvise ways to award children for being a green hero perhaps with a sticker or pocket money. This incentive should be given to them for practicing conservation methods such as helping with the garden, switching off the light, or putting something in the correct bin.

 

eBooks: there are several eBooks and cartoons on eco lifestyle for kids that could be used to improve their literacy. It would be even more beneficial if mom or dad participated by watching a cartoon or reading an eBook with the children. There are several eco-friendly cartoons on YouTube, and eBooks are available on Amazon. Remember you want to make it a lifestyle for the children.

 

Living sustainably

Living sustainably is not easy at first, but you can gradually build your awareness and then take steps to eliminate or reduce harmful habits to the environment. Be conscious of your purchases and opt for fewer items in plastic wrappers and plastic bottles. Choose energy-efficient electrical appliances, be thoughtful of how you dispose of your waste, and encourage your friends and family to do the same.