How To Help Kids Go Green

on August 5, 2009 at 3:00 PM

The following is a guest post by Ideal Bite's Mama Bite editor Alison Neumer Lara.

Recently I passed a summer weekend with my whole family—grandparents on down—and found that I spent a decent amount of time trailing after my niece and nephew turning off faucets, switching off lights, and the like.

They're 7 years old (twins) and learning about how to be green at school, but I realized that putting eco-habits into practice daily was another story. So I explained what Aunt Alison was up to—trying to save water, conserve energy, reduce waste—and Jack and Emma nodded along. They recycle at home, bring reusable lunch containers and bottles to school, and recently learned why their mom buys organic produce, so it kinda clicked...I think.

Cool thing is, there are tons of ways to help kids get why conserving resources is important (which then saves you cash on water and electric bills), including environmental web sites with games and facts, books about everything from wildlife to windmills, even green summer camps. And all of them are a lot more fun (and effective) than listening to your aunt.

How do you help your big kids learn about conserving energy and resources?

About the author Kim Conte

has shoes that make people stop her on the street and ask "Where did you get those?" but it doesn't work for taxi cabs as she was hit by one ... and lived to tell the tale. She has more freckles than Lohan but way less attitude. And she's a fierce cook with tons of recipes to share -- and wishes she could share some with Bourdain.