Simple and eco-friendly habits to teach your kids

8 simple & eco-friendly actions to teach kids

What if we choose a more sustainable and eco-friendly way of living? Even if it sounds challenging, our kids are tomorrow’s future, and it’s our duty to teach them how to take care of the planet we live on, thanks to simple and easy eco-friendly choices in their daily lives. It’s the perfect way to enrich their education.

So let’s choose a greener future, step by step!

In this article, we’ll propose 8 small actions you can embed in your daily routine with your kids (if it’s not already the case), in order to preserve our beautiful planet.

1. The daily reflex: close the tap

2. The simple and economic reflex: turn off the light

Just as water, electricity is a resource we shall not waste. Thus, in order to take care of your wallet and the earth at the same time, think about turning off the lights when you leave a room. You can pass these good habits to them while starting with their rooms!

TIP: If the dark is something your kid is afraid of (which we won’t blame them for) think about installing them a night light or low-consumption bulbs!

3. The must-have reflex: throw away your waste

Tissues, cake wrappers, cigarette butts, chewing-gum… We can find all kinds of disgusting things on floors! Sometimes, trash cans are a few meters away, but it does seem like human beings can’t find them!

All waste thrown in the natural environment sometimes takes millions or even billions of years to decompose and vanish, and we won’t talk about the smell and the risk to impact wild animals’ health.
You can explain, once again to your child, that his actions have consequences, and that waste belongs to the bin.

TIP: Sometimes finding a bin is a hard task depending on where you are. You can put a small bag (like the one we use to put in the freezer, for example, which is perfect for re-use) in their school bags and tell them to put their waste in it until they are aware of a bin. That way, they will feel responsible and self-conscious about their good actions!

4. The eco-citizen reflex: sort & recycle the waste

Sorting is a small reflex and appears insignificant, but it contributes to save the planet, so let’s take time to sort our waste and make it a family activity!

5. The solidarity reflex: give or sell unused toys and clothes

Toys, games, blankies, clothes… At every birthday or Christmas party, our kids are spoiled! And yet, they always want more. What if you propose to them a sorting activity where they will have the right to choose and make an impact? It’s the perfect occasion to make place for better toys to come! Take the time to select together which games they’d like to keep, give or sell. You can use Marie Kondo’s rules of tidying to inspire your approach to this emotional step (which you can apply for your own wardrobe! We always have too many clothes).
If they struggle too much to let go, you can tell them the benefits of their actions and that another kid in the world is going to love the toy as much as they loved it! Of course, they need a bit of motivation. 😉

6. The green reflex: taking care of nature

Your little wolves picked up flowers in his grandmother’s garden? Ouch… She’s going to be mad.

Kids are always looking for new things to do, experience, and they are sometimes too curious. Let’s teach them how to respect nature while making them discover the beauty of it!

Not picking up grass, flowers, leaves, or branches… These are small gestures which will help preserve nature and allow her to create even more beautiful things! If the urge is too important, you can always create an at-home game where they’ll have to pick up things, without being harmful!

Also, teach them that animals and insects are our friends, and thus essentials to keep the Earth healthy. What if you take the teaching occasion to take a walk in the forest? It’s the perfect occasion to get excited in front of nature, birds, and maybe wild animals hiding in the woods!
Let’s love nature: if we preserve it, it will give us our love back.

7. The healthy reflex: traveling smartly

Between us, who never took the car to go to the nearest coffee shop or to the next-door grocery store? Let’s face the reality. It’s not really eco-friendly… And what if we changed our (naughty) habits by focusing on green transportation? Walking, taking the bike or even using public transports, there’s most of the time another solution than taking the car!
If your kids’ school isn’t really far from your home, let’s propose them to go there with bikes or scooters. Go get your coffee by walking (good health guaranteed!), take public transportations, use carpooling… Whenever it’s possible, choose green transportation:

You will be doing a good action for the environment, but also for your own health! Stretching out your legs, taking deep breaths and even tanning is possible! Your body will thank you, and your kids will be calmer after wandering around. 🙂

8. The eco-friendly reflex: seasonal food

Once they know them, they’ll be able to easily identify by themselves if the food is seasonal, or not!

Pssst, you should take this opportunity to create your own little farm (if you’re lucky enough to have a garden)!
Your kids will love to help you water, watch and pick up those fruits and vegetables which they took so much care of.

Learn while playing: free riddle

While transmitting good reflexes to our little wolves, we teach them from an early age to take care of our beloved plant. If everyone adopts those little, simple and daily actions and make them become habits, the Earth will thank us.