Teach Your Kids To Be Environmentally Responsible

The “greening of America” has become chic these days, and evidence of this consists in the types of commercials we see on television. Television commercials usually have a similar cast of characters. For those with a family setting, there is invariably a cute, precocious, know-it-all kid, a mother who likes to shop, shop, shop, and a father who isn’t too bright. Occasionally mother isn’t too bright either, but the kid always is. “Kids know best,” seems to be the subliminal message being sent here.

Environmental commercials are no different. I recently saw one of Mastercard’s commercials. To paraphrase their end line, “Son teaching parents about the value of the environment, priceless.”

I just wanted to throw something at the TV.

In real life, it is the job of the parents to teach their kids how to be environmentally responsible, not the other way around.

And there are a lot of materials provided for parents to enable them to both learn about how to protect the environment, and teach that philosophy to their children.

Perhaps the most basic piece of philosophy to impart is, “Don’t litter.” Indeed, it seems like very few children, especially boys, are taught to make the effort to cross their rooms to place garbage directly in a trash basket. Rather, they leave their wrappers and their plates and other garbage either on their desks or on the floor around their bed, and mother comes along and cleans up after them. They thus learn that they never have to clean up for themselves – maid, girlfriend, or wife will always be there to do it for them.

If your child is involved in a science fair at school, don’t wait for him or her to come home and tell you all about it, but rather get involved. Don’t do all the work, of course, but learn with your child, in the parenting role.

Kids learn best by example. Don’t tell your child not to litter, then litter yourself. When you’re taking your child into a grocery store, and you see some litter on the ground, pick it up and deposit it in the appropriate receptacle. (You can do that even if you don’t have any impressionable young minds with you!) Clean up your own living area, before telling your children to clean theirs. If you are “greening” your home, make sure your children know why you’re doing what your doing, such as exchanging damp wash cloths for paper towels at dinner time, separating out recyclables, and so on.

It’s the parent’s job to teach the kids these things, not the other way around.

Need help? Try starting in the heart of your home with these tips on going green in the kitchen or learning about all the different ways to recycle.