Let’s talk “being green”. Does it happen that when you speak openly about your journey to be more green or more eco-friendly you are met with confused glances? I know the feeling. The thing is, it’s really so much easier to be “greener” than many people imagine. Don’t let the fact that you have children dissuade you from making better choices for the environment. It is definitely possible for your family to become greener – here’s how mine did it!
Clean Energy
It’s said that one should lead by example. And what a better example of parenting than to take the reigns when it comes to those greener alternatives. Our children don’t know much about clean energy so it is up to us to make the big changes and find out what our options are about clean energy suppliers. With so many tools nowadays it’s easier than ever to compare the best energy deals available.
If you’re not familiar with how clean energy works it’s quite simple. Instead of using coal, for example, clean energy companies use renewable energy whenever possible. Renewable energy can come in the form of solar panels and wind turbines.
Support Green Tech Companies
I know this may be a confusing one, so hear me out. Internet companies like Green Net are changing the way that internet service providers do business. For example, they only use servers that run off renewable energy sources. Thereby, quite significantly reducing their carbon footprint.
They also contribute much of their profit to charities that promote and support environmental development and sustainability. When signing up with them I was particularly impressed with the fact that they offer web hosting services. What this basically means, is that anybody who chooses to have their website hosted by Green Net will be contributing to greater environmental awareness. As well as obviously using a hosting server that leaves a very low carbon footprint.
There are other things that we can do as parents – from changing our energy suppliers to changing to more energy efficient cars. But what good is it if the kids can’t participate?
Involve the Entire Family
There are lots of little things that we can do as a family. The younger that you start or the younger that your children are the easier it will be to continue with a greener lifestyle. Sometimes it’s simple things that allow a concept to be introduced such as the 3 R’s.
- Introduce the 3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- Reduce – Teach your children all about better alternatives. For example, our twins don’t use plastic bottles for their water. Thus, reducing waste and unnecessary plastic usage. I popped into Smiggle once before a holiday in Spain and spent £8 on a water bottle for each of them. Sure, dropping £16 for a novelty water bottle may seem steep but it does help develop long term habits. The bottles are BPA free and super cute! Now, whenever we leave the house they each take their bottle full of squash or water out with them. With the added bonus that they don’t ask for drinks to be bought for them but they look for a water fountain where to refill their bottle themselves.
- Reuse – Make reusing items fun for kids and they will look for ways to transform trash to treasure wherever they go. This is usually easier when your children are younger but the older they get the more advanced upcycling projects can be. I still haven’t mastered this part but any tips are helpful so leave them in the comments!
- Recycle – Recycling is much more common now thanks to all the bins we see whilst out and about. The art of it is really about educating the little ones as to what goes in what bin and what isn’t recyclable. Creating that environment at home is a brilliant way to really instill those values.
Whether the changes that we make are big or small they are changes worth making; for ourselves, for the earth, and for our children’s future.
collaborative post
