Our children are the future of the planet so why not start them as early as possible helping to reduce local pollution problems? You and your children can make a fun day out of doing something good for the beautiful coastal paradise we call home.
Here are 3 fun ways to help your child mature into an eco-friendly, environmentally conscious citizen, all while having a great time.
1. Host A ‘Trashy’ Beach Day
Pack up the kids and head to the beach with trash bags and grabbers in hand. While enjoying the sand, sun and bright blue waters have your kids look up and down the coast and surrounding areas for any litter to discard using their handy-dandy grabber and trash bag. You could help hold the trash bag while your child uses the grabber to pick up and dispose of garbage.
Picking up garbage may not sound like your ideal way to spend a Saturday, but think of it like this: In the process you are likely saving the life of a marine bird or sea creature.
Add to the fun by creating a reward system if your child fills up an entire bag with trash, or reaches some other pre-determined goal. You could also invite along some of your child’s friends to make it a social event.
Countless marine animals are injured and even killed every day due to trash that ends up on the beach or washed out to sea. Animals often mistake trash as food, causing them to eat plastic, metal and other debris that lead to internal damages and even death. If everyone helped pick up the mess before animals got to it, we could prevent a lot of unnecessary suffering for innocent sea creatures.
Why kids think it’s fun:
- Kids love saving and helping animals.
- Kids enjoy using grabbers; they are fun because they are not something you get to use everyday.
- They get to hang out at the beach!
2. Create A Game Out Of Recycling
Set up a special recycling bin at home for your child, and only your child, to use. Your child will use this bin to dispose of all recyclable materials they use. Offer your child praise or a reward when they use the bin.
In the process your child learns what items are recyclable. All recyclable goods are marked with a triangle made out of arrows with a number inside; this number (1-7) identifies the type of material a product is made out of.
You could also have your child collect plastic bottles in a separate container. Once your child has a substantial collection of bottles, you will go together to a recycling center that offers money for every bottle collected. Your child could then use this money to buy something they’ve been wanting or add it to their piggy bank.
Recycling reduces landfill masses as well as the energy and resources needed to create new products from scratch. As a result, recycling actively benefits the environment.
Why kids think it’s fun:
- Kids like having something marked with their name for their use only… even if it’s just a recycling bin.
- Provides ample opportunity to create games and reward systems based upon how well they recycle.
3. Grow A Fruit & Vegetable Garden At Home
Growing a few different fruits and vegetables offers a fun way to bond with your child while highlighting the magic of nature. Even if you live in an apartment you can still grow fruits and veggies out of planters on or near windowsills. As your garden begins to flourish you have delicious, organic food that is virtually free. Plus, you’re actively reducing pollution in more ways than one.
For starters, no plastic, cardboard or other materials are needed to distribute produce from a farm to your local store and then to your home. Commercial farming creates many other forms of waste and pollution due to the bulk scale it is conducted on. In fact, we could greatly reduce pollution if everyone pitched in to grow some produce at home.
Why kids think it’s fun:
- Kids love seeing produce grown first-hand thanks to their hard work.
- Not only do the end results look good… but they taste good too!