5 Ways To Teach Your Kids How To Be More Eco-Friendly

Being eco-friendly is incredibly important as the overuse of fossil fuels and the pollution created by them is doing a lot of harm. It is degrading our land, polluting our water and changing our climate, which can be a major contributor to natural disasters.

Everyone from individuals to businesses should be doing their best to be environmentally friendly and reduce their carbon footprint. Whether it is learning about conducting environmental site investigation for your business, or even just recycling, we all can do our part.

This includes our children. They are the future and it is up to us to teach them how to be eco-friendly, so they can carry on the legacy. With that in mind, this blog post is going to go over 5 different ways to teach your children how to be more environmentally friendly.

Lead by Example

There is no doubt that children learn by imitating the adults in their lives. They will learn everything from social cues, behavior, affection and a variety of other things simply by watching you. The information they gather will go on to craft who they end up being as they grow older.

As a result, you need to set a good example, and your child should follow. If you live environmentally friendly, there is a good chance your child will develop the same, or similar, habits. However, if you preach living in an eco-friendly manner to your children, and then live the complete opposite way, it will send mixed signals to them and could confuse them.

Let Them Know Why It’s Important

In order for a child to be all-in on being eco-friendly, you need to be sure they understand why it is important. You need to educate them on how the environment is suffering and why. Be sure to let them know not only what is happening in the world, but the things that they can do to help.

If you tell them all of the things to do without telling them why it matters, they simply might disregard it or not care. Of course, depending on the age of your child, keep the conversation fairly light, while still making your point. If your child feels they can make a difference in the world by changing up a few things, there is a good chance they will.

Spend Time Outside in the Environment

The more connected to the outdoors your child is, the more eco-friendly they will often become. So be sure to spend a ton of time outside with your child and show them the beauty of nature. This could be anything from going camping, going to the park, taking a walk or going swimming in the lake.

All of this time outside will help your child to appreciate the environment, and be willing to make some sacrifices to help save it. Not only will being outside help a child be more eco-friendly but it also keeps them active and keeps them away from spending hours in front of a TV or computer every single day.

Encourage Them to Recycle

One of the best things you can do around the house to be eco-friendly is to recycle. Thankfully, this is also an activity that your child can participate in. Recycling is easy, simple and it is easy for even a child to understand how it can help the environment.

This is the perfect way to introduce children to being environmentally friendly. Of course, be sure to explain to them what can and can’t be recycled, and potentially give them a list to help them out. You could even give your child their own recycling bin, and allow them to turn in items that they recycled for a fun prize or toy.

Teach Them About Conserving

Conserving energy, power and water at home are among the best things that an average person can do to reduce their carbon footprint. Unfortunately, we aren’t always the best at watching our usage. It is very common to forget to turn a light off, leave the A/C running when we leave or leave the TV on.

While we are all guilty of this, it is especially prevalent amongst children. So be sure to teach them not only the things they can do to conserve energy, but also why it helps the planet. Teach them to check every room before they leave to make sure everything is shut down or turned off.

In conclusion, we hope this article has been helpful in teaching your kids about being eco-friendly.