August 03, 2015
Encouraging Sustainable Behaviors in the Home
It’s a pretty hard fact to deny — the Earth is undergoing some drastic, very scary changes, and the more we choose to ignore it, the more we subject our children, and our children’s children, to an unstable, ecologically dangerous world with increasingly limited resources. In this day and age there’s no excuse for not thinking more about the planet and how we can protect it, and the earlier we start our children on positive, life-giving behaviors, the better off we all will be.
Change has to start small. If you begin by trying to tackle the largest issues, and changing your entire life around on a dime, you’ll never sustain it. But one small habit here, another small change there…those are things we can successfully, and easily, integrate into our daily lives, and make it possible for our little ones to as well. So what are some small ways you can guide your children towards more sustainable behaviors?
1. Composting. Composting is so easy, and it will absolutely change your life. And chances are — whether it’s your backyard, or a city-run organization — you have all the means to do it right where you live. So what does it entail? Basically saving all of your food scraps (no meat or dairy, though) throughout the week — either in a plastic bag in the freezer, a composting bin in your backyard, or in a counter top/indoor composting bin that can easily fit inside your kitchen. Once it’s full, toss it in your garden, drop it off at a local composting facility or community garden, or even your local farmer’s market, which will very likely collect and re-purpose your compost. When you compost, you eliminate all the food waste from your house. You can even compost grass clippings, old flowers, egg shells, paper bags…there is so much in your home that can be reused and recycled, instead of just being dumped in the trash. That means less trash in the home, and also much less guilt about food you don’t get to in time. Now all of those scraps are going back into the earth, and producing food for people who need it. Look for local composting associations in your hometown, or check out these tips for composting in your yard here.
2. Dump the plastic. This is a great one for kids, because it teaches them that just because you use something once, doesn’t mean you can’t use it again. Have a plastic water bottle? Refill it — don’t just throw it away! Or even better, buy your kids eco-friendly bottles that they can refill and take with them wherever they go, eliminating the use of plastic bottles entirely. Plastic water bottles are tremendously damaging to the environment — far more than one might think. Dumping plastic is also much cheaper on your wallet. If you drank the recommended daily amount of water from plastic water bottles instead of the tap, you’d spend $1400 per year, vs $.49 from the tap.
3. Find as many ways as possible to reduce waste. Make it a game! What are the ways you can reduce waste in your home? Turn off dripping faucets, leave the AC off when you’re not home, turn of the lights if no one is in the room, say no to napkins and plastic cutlery from take-out restaurants, buy things in bulk from the grocery store instead of purchasing everything in wasteful, single-serve packaging, use totes at the grocery or market instead of always taking plastic and paper bags (is there ANYONE who doesn’t get annoyed at how much those accumulate?), donate items you aren’t using. Here are lots more tips from Bea Johnson, who has been running (and writing about) a zero-waste home since 2008. Even if many of these seem to too tough, any small changes you make have a huge impact on the environment.
Has your family tried to become more eco-friendly? Share your tips with the One True Gift community on our Facebook page!
