As a throw-away society in general, it is important to teach our kids to live an earth-friendly lifestyle and help protect the environment. It takes energy to produce new items that you see on store shelves when you flip on the light switch or television, and not all of Earth’s resources are sustainable forever. Just because your children can’t make all of the household decisions, there are things that you can do to teach them how to focus on sustainable energy resources and do their part to help lead a lifestyle that is earth-friendly.
Living in Texas, our state is a huge energy producer and helps our country maintain enough energy to meet the current energy demands. Texas is a leading producer of crude oil, natural gas, and electricity. Crude oil is manufactured off the Texas coast. There is an interstate of natural gas pipeline that is within the Texas borders. The interstate equates to 28,000 miles. Travel through West texas and you will see fields full of huge wind turbines. The turbines are generating electricity and feed it back into the grid. And now Texas residents are able to add solar panels on their roofs to help reduce their energy footprint and have the ability to sell back excessive energy back to the grid. For more information, by Douglas Healy, on why the mid-west is a gold mine when it comes to building sustainable energy for the future,
It is great that Texas has invested in multiple ways to help lessen the effects of using coal to fuel our energy plants. Coal produces gas and bi-products that deplete the ozone layer. This causes temperatures to rise quickly and produce a greenhouse effect. While we can’t control everything that gets put into the environment, we can take a moment to teach our children how to live an earth-friendly lifestyle and do their part to decrease their generation footprint.
If you need help finding a way to discuss the damage caused to Earth by humans, we suggest using The Lorax to help explain to your children about sustainable energy. Without rules and regulations, businesses and industry leaders could be in control of making decisions that would negatively impact the world.
How to Teach Your Child to Live an Earth-Friendly Lifestyle
Recycling
Does your community promote recycling? I’m currently living in an area that doesn’t promote recycling and it is a shame. It is easy to do and can save resources that we normally send to the landfill each year. But recycling products can save critical resources such as aluminum cans, glass bottles, steel, tin cans, paper, and plastic can also reduce energy costs. You can help teach your kids which items should be recycled or tossed into the garbage.
ReUse
Next time that you are decluttering and getting rid of your old belongings. Take a look around and put any items that can be reused into a separate pile. I’m guilty of tossing out things that someone else would love to have. Not only does reusing benefit someone else but it teaches your kids to be kind to others in need. Whether you host a garage sale, post on Facebook marketplace, let it go, or donate the items, you are giving someone else the opportunity to use your gently used items. As a mom, hand-me-downs are always welcome and I try to pass the blessing on to someone else whenever possible.
Plant a Garden
Produce is costly at the grocery store and it isn’t nearly as fresh as it appears. Most of the produce that is at the grocery store, has traveled several thousand miles before it is even available for purchase. Planting a garden, not only ensures that your produce is fresh but it also reduces the number of pesticides your family is exposed to. Plus, by growing your own food, you stop wasting fossil fuels and reduce the amount of packaging you throw away whenever you purchase produce at the grocery store.
Before you decide to plant a garden, do check with your local laws to make sure that you are allowed to grow your own food in the ground. I know where I am residing, the city has an ordinance preventing me from growing my own produce in the ground. But the city does allow us to grow our own produce in planters.
Switch to Earth Friendly Products
Customers are demanding that companies look for greener ways to do business. There is no reason that manufacturers can’t make simple changes that help protect the Earth. The only downside that customers have seen with purchasing earth-friendly products is the increased cost associated with buying from companies that have made an effort to go green.
Would you purchase earth-friendly products if the manufacturer cut costs or convinced you that their products are better than their competitor? According to a survey, 3 out of 5 consumers would be in favor of purchasing greener products if they were cheaper.
Purchase Reusable Products
Stop purchasing products that can only be used once and tossed in the trash. By purchasing reusable products such as cloth diapers, towels, fabric napkins, mama cloth (aff link), etc. Purchasing products that we throw away not only is wasteful but it also adds to pollution, landfill problems, and uses additional fossil fuels. I get that reusable products aren’t always convenient to use but in the long run, they save you money.
Conserve Water
Are you guilty of leaving the water running while you are brushing your teeth, doing dishes, or doing a small load of laundry? Wasting water may not seem like a huge deal but if you can make a conscious effort to turn off the water when you aren’t using it. Also, do your best to wash full loads of laundry but keep in mind that stuffing it too full isn’t good either. Don’t forget to remind your kids to conserve water too!
Like I mentioned, wasting water may not seem like a huge deal but it is. The water treatment process consumes energy and uses chemicals to make the water safe for consumption. When you allow the water to flow freely down the drain, just think about the cost of running a water treatment plant and wastewater treatment facility. Wasted water simply is returned to the sewer lines and makes its way to the wastewater treatment facility. Again, treating dirty water isn’t cheap. But even wastewater treatment plants are looking at ways to conserve energy and reuse waste whenever possible.
Reduce Your Energy Consumption
Teach your kids the importance of turning off the lights when they leave a room, unplug devices or things they aren’t using, and to use natural daylight as much as possible. Doing these simple things can help reduce your electric bill while conserving energy.
Even though your child can’t make all the household decisions but as a parent, you can still teach them how to maintain the Earth’s sustainable energy sources. Not all of the energy resources are sustainable forever and some that aren’t good for the Earth.
With rising temperatures affect global warming, engineers are having to find other sustainable energy resources so that we aren’t relying on coal to fuel our power plants, factories, and businesses. Thankfully, there are alternative resources like wind, solar, hydro, natural gas, petrol, and other natural resources that can be used to fuel our earth-friendly lifestyle.
