- Sustainable Queen
RAISING SUSTAINABLE KIDS
Confronted with the environmental crisis, parents have a key role to play in giving faith in the future to the younger generations.
‘Prevention is better than cure they say.
Why wait for our children to grow old to raise their awareness about sustainability while we can raise green kids from the very early stages. It’s the parents’ duty to raise green kids at the very stages.
1. Have a Sustainable baby
The arrival of a baby is often synonymous with a new life in every respect. It’s an opportunity to bring another eco-responsible individual into the world and to give him or her every chance, from birth, to make a difference. From what you wrap the baby in what you dress him in, make sure the materials are as natural and organic as possible. On your baby gift list, put local, organic and bioproducts to be received on your baby shower. The examples go on and on, such as organic or cloth diapers instead of disposable ones, silicone, glass or stainless steel baby bottles that won’t be harmful to the baby and the planet. You can also reduce the number of items you buy for your baby. Why use thousands of items that will only be used for a short time? Babies grow up fast, but it takes years for the earth to recover from waste.
Opt for durable items, collect baby accessories and items for them or the baby’s room from family or second-hand stores.
2. Instil sustainable values at home
The best way to instil sustainable values in your children is to lead by example. When children see you picking up trash, regardless of whether you threw it away, they see it as normal and important to keep public places clean.Whether it’s walking them to school or reducing your family’s waste, every sustainable choice you make is a green choice for your children. And they, in turn, can pass it on to their playmates and schoolmates, creating a very positive and sustainable ripple effect.
Children’s curiosity and natural empathy for the environment, plants and animals make them feel that they can contribute or make a difference, and they usually do so with enthusiasm and genuine love. That’s why it’s important for parents to encourage them to take care of the environment starting right at home.
3. Engage your kids in green activities
The beauty of childhood is the wonder and interest they have in their eyes and hearts when it comes to discovering, notably nature and its understanding. All those how, what, why questions, from caterpillars to bees to plants and more. This is where you plant the green seeds in every single way: give them a pet to take care of, teach them about recycling and DIY gift crafting. Get them involved in sharing creative ideas about how to reduce waste, reuse and recycle at home and tend the garden with them.
You can also inspire them to live a green lifestyle by biking, walking, and taking family staycations whenever you can such as camping in the mountains and all. Have a minimalist or zero-waste home by using eco-friendly or LED electricity consumption that you can educate your children about.
Have them de-clutter when it’s time and encourage them to donate themselves while inculcating the value of charity and the circular economy.
4. Play sustainably
From toy selection to activities, your children can be educated to adopt sustainable play practices.
Offer them sustainable toys and if they are already old enough to understand, involve them in choosing their own toys in toy stores while being mindful of being eco-friendly. This choice in itself can be a game in the toy store for them to find the eco-friendliest toy. Also, encourage them to play outside and be creative rather than sitting in front of the latest energy-consuming technology. show them how to create dresses for their dolls from unused fabric at home, how to make bracelets from mom’s broken necklaces, and how to play tea party with real cutlery from home.
5. Involve children in making ecological choices
Create eco-friendly living rules with your children by asking them to suggest attitudes and habits, for example, to save energy. Plan healthy, eco-friendly family menus, then turn them into shopping lists that they can help you with.
Find things around the house to reuse, such as turning one-sided computer paper into notebooks or scrap paper for art projects.Set aside money as a family to help a charity you could choose together. Set up bins and a composter to make it easier to organize and encourage recycling efforts and to encourage all your guests to do so.
The ways of raising sustainable kids are endless and even though it starts at home, these are valuable resources that children are encouraged to take to school and everywhere they go.
These eco-responsible values instilled at an early age will inevitably become part of who they are, what they do and how they do it. This is how you raise green children.
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