As the world is moving closer and closer to more eco-friendly living, we commonly ask ourselves: how much is this little contribution really helping? We’ve heard to turn off our faucets while we’re brushing our teeth or to use less toilet paper, but what impact are these little changes really making in your home and for the world around you? Just as we ask ourselves these things, so do our children.
When my kids ask me the continuous string of “whys” it reminds me of when I was a kid with my own questions about energy saving and environmentally friendly choices in our home. My dad was constantly reminding us to turn lights off or close the curtains at night. When I’d ask why, his answer was always something generic about saving electricity, but he never gave examples. Kids love examples, because they turn abstract concepts into something a little easier to understand. For instance, when you run the water while you’re brushing your teeth for two minutes, you’re wasting four gallons of water. Showing your kids a gallon milk jug and explaining that four of them are washing down the drain unused, the visual is much easier to understand and remember than just telling them to turn off the faucet “to save water.” If my dad had explained things a little more like that, I bet we would have taken the message to heart sooner and he wouldn’t have had to remind us so often.
Procter & Gamble has come up with a way to help families better understand things they can do around their house to save money, energy and live a greener lifestyle by creating a website that offers tips and information during a virtual tour of a home. The site is FutureFriendly.com. It’s set up so you can select different rooms in the house and click on little plus signs to learn new tips. Other than the occasional product placement, which was bound to be on the site, I found it to be a really cool way to share ideas and better explain why I encourage my kids to do little things around the house. The kids liked the scavenger hunt aspect of searching the rooms and yard for tips, and the tips are short and easy to follow and understand.
Helping your kids understand why they should do little things around the house to help the environment is truly half the battle. Without the understanding, there is much less motivation to embrace these little changes, and if they know how they’re helping they’re proud of their contributions and the good habits will stay with them forever.
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