5 Ways Kids Can Be Green

Striving to be more energy efficient and less wasteful is one of our goals as a family. My husband and I are trying to teach this to our kids through the choices we make and through modeling. Helping kids learn about protecting our planet is important. Here are 5 easy ways kids can be green.

#1 Reuse items from the recycling bin.

We craft from the recycling bin often. We use a lot of cardboard tubes. These cardboard tube monsters were all Aiden’ s idea.

I reuse peanut butter jars and coffee cans to organize and store toys and items we use in learning.

See the peanut butter jar full of bottle caps. Yep. We play lots of games with those.

#2 Carry a water bottle.

No need to buy water out. Buy your child his own special water bottle (or 2) and he’ll be happy to drink from it. Did you know that bottled water sales have now surpassed soda in the U.S.?

#3 Turn off the lights.

This is probably the easiest way for kids to help out. My son is notorious for leaving the lights on when he leaves the room. We are working on this issue. We’ve talked about how energy is used when the lights are on. If no one is in the room, the lights do not need to be on. Turning them off saves energy.

#4 Get outside.

Run around and appreciate the outdoors. Plant a garden. Watch the flowers grow. Harvest your own food. Connect with nature. I believe this is the single most important thing we can do for our children. Let them experience nature. Hopefully, they will want to preserve it in the future.

Take notice of the animals and plant life around us. Learn about them. Appreciate their differences. Talk about what happens when they’re gone.

Here is the current state of our garden. We planted a pocket of prairie here and are waiting for the grasses and flowers to grow.

Don’t have room for a garden? Go visit a greenhouse. You can see lots of different types of plants growing.

#5 Reduce waste.

Donate used clothes and toys instead of throwing them away.

Pack your lunch with reusable containers instead of plastic baggies.

Buy things that you are really going to use. Sometimes my kids as for items at the store just because they want “something.” They don’t really care what the item is just as long as they are getting something. I have the discussion with them about how we don’t buy things at random like that. We think about our purchases first and try to buy things that we will use again and again.

More Ways Kids Can Be Green

Try these recycled container gardening ideas.

Do you subscribe to the Inspiration Laboratories weekly newsletter? Each issue has exclusive hands-on science explorations for children, a recap of our latest activities, and special resources selected just for you!