Eco Kids Go Hands On !

It is becoming increasingly important for children and young people to become aware of the environmental dangers our planet is facing, ways we can all help create a sustainable, "green" future, and to get involved in a hands-on way. Growing up being involved on a daily basis in the home and taking part in environmental projects, help cement these ideals in the child's mind and make it a natural part of their adult life, which they then pass on to their children, and so on.

There are lots of ways you can involve kids in environmentally friendly activities, groups and projects. Here are some ideas to get them started! 

Come on kids- let's go hands-on for Planet Earth!

 

AT HOME

Be a Leak Detective:

Check your house for possible places where heat may escape in winter, or heat from outside may enter in summer. Don't forget to check chimneys, window frames, cracks, vents, air con ducts, manholes etc. Find ways to block or limit this heat exchange. Physical blocking? Insulation? Heavy curtains? Pelmets? Outside blinds? Deciduous trees? There's all kinds of ways you can help keep your home a more consistently pleasant temperature, all year round, and lessen your reliance on heaters and air conditioners.

Become an Environmental Chef:

Help plan your family shopping- where possible try to buy organic, whole foods, in bulk if practical to save on packaging, and local in season produce which will save lots of greenhouse gases in transport and specialised growing environments. Grow your own ingredients- safe from toxic chemicals and full of nutrients! Help plan and cook healthy, whole foods meals at home. And take your own lunch to school. Eat more vegetarian meals. Create your own veggie recipes- use veggies from your own veggie garden! Meat production has so much more bad effect on the environment than fruits, vegetables etc, in so many ways... do some research and find out!

Maybe an Energy Efficiency Expert is your style:

Do a water and power audit of your house, then work out ways that you could save water and energy. Turn off lights and appliances when you don't need them on. Don't forget all those things on stand-by... that uses power too and can save quite a bit over a year! Take shorter showers. Don't just run the tap the whole time when brushing your teeth, washing your hands or washing dishes. Notice- and learn to help fix- dripping taps, running toilets etc. Check the energy ratings of your appliances. If it's time to buy a new one, find out which ones are more energy efficient. Try to only run appliances such as washing machine or dishwasher with a full load, unless they have special settings for small loads.

Turn Trash into Treasure:

Recycle, reduce and reuse!! Cash in your deposit cans and bottles for extra pocket money! (where applicable) Have a garage sale, or donate items GOOD items to charity, rather than send it to landfill.

IN THE GARDEN

Garden Guru:

Create your own awesome veggie garden! Try to use only organic fertilisers and pest control. You don't want to be adding pollution into the soil, or toxins into your food! Grow herbs and some veggies in pots. Use your veggies to create some wonderful meals! Or just snack right off the plant... nothing better than feasting on fresh ripe food you grew yourself.

Water Wizard:

How is water used in your garden and how might it be used more efficiently and responsibly? Find out about any current water restrictions that are in place in your area. Are you abiding by the conditions? If not, change your water habits to comply. What other restrictions might apply if water becomes even more scarce? Would they be hard to abide by? How could you prepare now to be better able to adapt? Find ways to capture rainfall to be used in your garden. What about grey water? What are the restrictions governing its use, and could you make use of any your household produces?

AT SCHOOL
 School Environmental Warriors:

Get your class on an energy hunt. Carry out a school water or energy audit. Then discuss ways in which savings might be made and implement what you can. Create and maintain a school garden... and use the produce for cooking classes, school lunches or events, selling for fund-raising, or donating to food pantries or charities. Have a school grounds tree planting project. Create a litter awareness campaign in the school and regular litter control teams. Discuss what "green" principles your classroom can adopt- such as recycling, using less, using different materials, bringing home-made lunches, walking or biking to school if appropriate- and implement whatever you can. then... get other classes involved! Run a school competition for the most energy efficient and "green" class! Make it a monthly competition, or each term, to give incentive for improvement. Approach the canteen manager and see if more environmental packaging and procedures can be implemented. The same could be done with other school areas such as offices. It is probably advisable to ask a helpful teacher for help and advice with this, and for the best way to approach the relevant staff.

Environmental Discoverers:

Do an environmental survey of your school grounds. This could include litter amounts, degraded areas, number of trees, number of native plants, number and species of birds, reptiles and insects seen on school grounds or anything else of environmental concern or impact. What could be done to improve any areas?

IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

• Approach your neighbours about joining you in your environmental efforts, and get them to carry out similar audits and use techniques to cut down on unnecessary use of all kinds of things.
• Find people in your local area that have fruit trees, or grow veggies, and see if you can swap with each other.
• Join or help start a Community Garden.
• Get together with friends and neighbours to buy bulk and save on both money, and packaging.
• Help organise a street garage sale, or swap, where several families work together to create a big event which will encourage more people to come... and less items to end up in landfill.
• Find out about, and get involved with, local sustainability groups.

OUT AND ABOUT ADVENTURES

• Join, or start, a Waterwatch group. http://www.waterwatch.org.au/
• Join a "Friends of Parks" group and get involved in hands-on projects in our amazing National Parks. There are also many other types of "Friends" groups.
• Join Trees For Life and grow our future native forests. http://www.treesforlife.org.au/home/
• Research other environmental volunteer groups around Australia... and the world... that you might like to join.
• Do your own research project into the effect of human civilisation and pollution in a special vulnerable area.
• Find a local farm, orchard or market gardener and see if you can arrange to collect produce direct from them... or even pick your own! Some places already have these services available.

TAKE ON THE WORLD!

• Get involved with International groups such as WWF, Greenpeace and PETA.
• Contact politicians, business leaders or whoever is appropriate with your environmental concerns.
• Make your own environmental movies and post them on Youtube.
• Approach environmental websites and ask if you can write for them about environmental issues, or what you are doing to address them. 

Don't forget one of the most important ways of getting your child on-board- talk to them about why it really matters... and listen to their ideas and thoughts and incorporate them where you can! And make activities enjoyable. Even though it's a somewhat serious subject, taking part in doing your bit doesn't have to be dull and just hard work. Make things a part of family ritual and enjoyable times spent together. Create a family of aware, involved, positive, caring people, who are enthusiastic to get things done, instead of a disenchanted, disconnected group of TV watching, uninvolved zombies.

Remember... how we leave the planet, and those who are caretaking it, is the future of our children, our grandchildren and generations of our family forever into the future. It is worth making sure the next generation of adults have the knowledge, skills and passion to help create a world that will be worth living in.