Going Green With The Kids: How To Make It Fun!

The importance of teaching the next generation how to take better care of the planet cannot be understated. Use the following ideas to give your kids a positive vibe about going green and instill habits and values that will carry through adulthood and have a great impact on our environment.

1. CFL's. Lead by example and replace the old bulbs in your home. Set up a fund on the kitchen table and deposit the $6 or so each compact fluorescent light bulb will save your family throughout the year, and use the money at Christmas time! Explain to your kids how smart it is to save electricity and money at the same time. As an added bonus, CFL's don't generate nearly as much heat as old-fashioned bulbs so little fingers won't get burned by them.

2. Recycling. Make a fun neighborhood project out of recycling, where strength in numbers is demonstrated. All of the kids getting together in a major effort will produce great results, both in the volume of recyclable material collected and especially in money they could raise by cashing in cans or other items. Find a worthy cause in need of some cash and positive energy, and organize an environmentally beneficial drive that your children can make happen, along with all their friends.

3. Grow a garden. Kids are fascinated by plant growth and the wonders that any garden holds. Try setting up a small patch of land where a few easy-to-grow plants like carrots and tomatoes can be planted, and allow your child the responsibility of getting them from seed to table! They learn how to avoid pesticides, all about the Eco-system and the process of supplying consumers.

4. Solar powered toys. Find fun toys that are powered by the sun instead of batteries, and you have increased the magnetic effect of that toy on your child ten-fold! Sometimes they cost a little more (and sometimes not!) but the money you save not buying batteries and the lessons your kids will learn are well worth it.

5. Water waste awareness. Teeth brushing, outdoor toys that use a garden hose and bubble baths are all opportunities to instill conservation principles into young children that should last a life time. Show your kids that conservation is not deprivation but a wise and considerate idea that helps the planet and other people.

6. Raising a green consumer. If your child learns early to look at what products are made from and how they can be recycled after use, they will grow up with higher environmental standards as shoppers. By the time they have their own jobs and bank accounts, they will already know not to spend money on wasteful manufacturing processes and items that are impossible to recycle. This will be the most influential factor on major industries because if the big companies know people won't buy something, they simply won't make it! Such buying power will dictate that products that have the environment in mind will become the new norm.

Once your kids discover how fun it is to go green and how much every plant, animal and person in the environment will benefit, there will be no stopping them. Have fun teaching your little one to be a planet-saving super-hero!