
February 22 is National Wildlife Day, a chance for parents to teach the next generation steps they can take to protect and preserve the environment. Here’s a list of practical actions that not only make a real difference but can easily be integrated into the daily lives of families.
MORNING
Most parents teach their kids to brush their teeth twice a day—in the morning when they wake up and at night before they go to sleep. Consider taking this lesson one step further. Teach them to turn the faucet off while brushing to conserve water. The same applies for when they soap their hands after using the toilet. If a shower is part of their morning routine, teach them to set a timer, say for 15 minutes, to conserve water. Also, have them help you buy refillable soap and shampoo dispensers to reduce the use of disposable plastic bottles.
SCHOOL
If you have enough time in the morning, have your kids help you pack their school lunches. If everyone is busy with their various routines, do it together the night before. Either way, the point is that the kids’ school lunches are another great opportunity to demonstrate environmental conservation. Teach them how to pack a lunchbox with little to no waste. Use reusable bottles instead of disposable juice bottles, water containers, or milk cartons, and wrap their sandwiches and snacks in beeswax wrapping or other sustainable materials instead of in cellophane. If it’s impossible to avoid trash, have them bring it home instead of disposing of it at school so that you can teach them how to sort garbage from recyclable materials.
If you live far from the kids’ school, you may need to drive them or have them take the bus or train. But if you live close by, and the route to and from school is safe, encourage them to walk, bike, or scooter to school. If you must drive, perhaps you could park the car a couple of hundred feet away from the school and have the kids walk the rest of the way. The goal is to start a conversation about the impact of gasoline consumption and the effects car exhaust have on the environment.
EVENING
The evening presents a time for great conversations about environmental conservation. Have the kids help you prepare dinner and try to come up with delicious meals that are plant-based. A good start could be “Meatless Mondays.” Also teach them to set the table with washable cloth napkins instead of disposable paper napkins.
After dinner, have the kids either help you with the dishes or, if they’re old enough, do the dishes on their own. Just like for their morning routine, have them turn off the faucet while they’re soaping the dishes. Also, teach them to separate waste in the proper containers: compostable items, glass/plastic, cardboard/paper, and garbage that will end up in a landfill.
If you’re ordering food in or are eating out at a restaurant, teach the kids to say no to plastic utensils when ordering in and plastic straws when eating out. Before they go to bed, instruct your kids not to leave their phones and laptops charging overnight to conserve energy.
More generally, teach the kids to conserve energy by turning the lights off every time they leave a room, and keep windows closed when the air-conditioning or heat is running.
WEEKEND
There are lots of things you can do with the kids on weekends to make them care about the environment. If you plan on going on a hike or biking outdoors, teach them to enjoy local wildlife responsibly. When going for a hike in a nature preserve, explain the importance of staying on the trails and not disturbing the wildlife. If you’re having a picnic at the park, encourage them to clean up and not leave behind any trash that could endanger birds and other wildlife.
If you have outside space, have the kids plant a small garden or fill planters using composted food scraps to enrich the soil. You can also have them help you set up a rain barrel so that they can water their garden or planters with the rainwater that they’ve collected.
If you don’t have space for outdoor farming, a little herb garden on the kitchen windowsill is also an option. Herbs are great since they’re easy to take care of and can add flavor to any plant-based dishes you and the kids make.
Perhaps take the kids to local shelters and charitable organizations to donate furniture, other household items, clothes, and toys that aren’t broken but that your family doesn’t need anymore. Have the kids decide which things to donate: it’ll teach them compassion and the importance of reducing the amount of trash that ends up in the local landfill.
Another fun and educational activity is to have the kids brainstorm ways to re-use household items instead of throwing them in the garbage. What can you do with the wood from a broken chair? Make a musical instrument? Use it to rekindle the fireplace? Instead of discarding a metal can, could it be repurposed as a pen and pencil holder?
It may not be as fun as spending time outdoors, planting a garden, or repurposing household items, but consider taking the kids to the local landfill to show them where all the trash ends after it has been picked up by the garbage truck.
For many families, the weekend is the time for grocery shopping for the upcoming week. Encourage the kids to join you and ask them to pack reusable shopping and produce bags to save on plastic and other non-biodegradable materials. While at the supermarket or farmer’s market, have them select loose fruits and vegetables instead of those pre-packaged and wrapped in plastic. Teach them to compare products not just by price, but also by how sustainably they’re produced and distributed (explain that shipping distances can impact the environment). If the kids need clothes, take them to second-hand stores or choose sustainable brands.
Finally, consider volunteering together. Most communities offer opportunities for families to engage in environmental conservation efforts like clean-ups and tree planting. Make it extra fun for the kids by letting their friends join. You can also participate in the “community science movement” where you go to local beaches, marshes, and nature reserves to collect data about the health of animal and plant life. The data is then uploaded to apps like eBird, iNaturalist, and ISeeChange to alert scientists to changes in wildlife that may need further study or intervention.
Tanni Haas, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Communication Arts, Sciences, and Disorders at the City University of New York – Brooklyn College.