Mindful Momma

Simple Inspired Natural Living


Practically Green Anniversary Bash! Day 4 – Green Your Kids

Do you tell you kids to go green or do they remind you to do it? These days it could go either way. Recently my 10 year old son encouraged me to “buy local Mom” when we were at the grocery.  He also frequently reminds me to turn off the tap and turn out the lights.  I’ve trained him well!!

In my book, Carbon offset chet A Global Green Pals Cloth Doll – These award-winning, educational dolls are made with Oeko-Tex 100 certified organic cotton and stuffed with 100% post consumer recycled PET plastic bottles.  The hardest part will be choosing which pal you want:  Recycle Kyle, Clean Air Kate, Carbon Offset Chet, Pink Coral Laurel or Pani Rani.

  • A Hopscotch Kids Nailpolish set – Non-toxic, water-based nail polish made especially for kids!  The set includes an Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe green nail polish, a bottle of nail polish remover and a nail buffer.
  • A copy of the book RSS feed or email) or following me on Twitter.  (please leave a separate comment for each thing you do – 3 entries max per person).  The giveaway will be open through midnight, Central time on Wednesday, November 3rd.  (US mailing addresses only)

    (Note: there are Amazon affiliate links in this post)

    This contest is now closed.  The winner is Catherine whose 4 year old son helps her recycle #5 plastics at Whole Foods!  Congrats!!

    Sustainable Swaps Guide

    • About Mindful Momma

    Micaela Preston is natural living educator and safe and sustainable product activist. She has spoken at conferences and events, has lobbied for safer chemical laws, and has consulted with many brands and businesses. Her book, Practically Green: Your Guide to Eco Friendly Decision Making was published in 2009.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kate says

      When we are using something, my daughter and I discuss where it goes after we are finished with it. She is two and a half and knows that food scraps go in the compost, glass, plastic and metal go in one bag for recycling, paper goes in another recycling bag, and the rest (if we can’t repurpose it in some way) we talk about before we use…”Do we really need this? It will have to go in the trash and might even end up in the Pacific Ocean!”

    2. Katie says

      I think the best thing is to be intentional about sharing with your kids the “whys” of our green choices. And helping them to participate as much as possible – hanging laundry on the line, feeding the compost and recycle bins, helping in the garden, etc.

    6. Kelly says

      We are working on some basic things with my little ones. Using the recycling, turning off the water and lights. Sometimes they catch Daddy throwing something away and they tell him to “recycle that!”

    7. Vanessa says

      We talk about taking care of the Earth a lot in our home. We recently even did a recycle our own paper project which the kids LOVED. Our kids participate in composting, water and electric conservation, and recycling. Just the other day we got all of our art supplies from nature and made a beautiful craft. Our Halloween costumes are coming from things we already have. We work hard at not buying new and telling our kids why it is better to repurpose, reuse, or buy used. We talk about the values of organic food, and real food, and are looking forward to starting our own garden this weekend. Whenever possible, we take our daughter to school on a bike, and explain the benefits to her… along with the benefits of turning our car off in car line. My daugther also touts the use of reusable grocery bags to anyway walking away with plastic bags at the store.

    8. Bailey Wingler says

      My son is only 2 years old and I am already so proud of his “green” efforts. Recycling is a part of his every day life, as is composting. He loves to help and is very involved in the whole process. Over the summer he helped us plant an organic garden. He watered it, and himself ;), every morning and was so excited when cucumbers and tomatoes starting popping up everywhere!
      We take all of our own bags when we go shopping and he knows to grab them and put them in the car. Then, when we go to the store, he always helps me bag everything up. We go to our local Farmer’s Market every weekend. He talks about the vegetables and has even talked to the local cattle/poultry farmers about free-range, grass fed, etc. They have brought photo albums for him to look at so he can really understand where his food comes from!
      He knows to turn off lights and unplug things when we leave the room. We are working on taking cooler showers and cooler baths. Most of all, we just talk to him, A LOT! We have another son due in January and when the kids are old enough we do plan to get them involved in the local community though volunteer work! Every day I look in his sweet little face and I am so proud of the man he will grow up to be. I think of how much better the planet would be if all children started off this way. Since taking care of our planet is part of his daily life, who knows what new wonderful and inovative things he will be doing when he’s my age!

    11. Francie says

      I have a 5 year old that leaves the lights on when he leaves the room. Instead of just telling him to turn off the lights, I try to use it as a teachable moment. He doesn’t understand electricity so I try to explain it to him so he understands.

      I often go back to the piggy bank story I tell him, if there is no money in your piggy bank can you pay the electric bill/buy groceries/etc… That he understands.

    12. Tracy Gaudet says

      I think my post says it all

      and I am loving those hopscotch kids nail polish, so many cute colors!!

    13. B says

      One way we avoid waste is to have our daughters start with small amounts of food on their plates and let them know there is always room for seconds (and thirds!) – that way they are learning not to waste food (as well as eat healthy amounts).

    14. Sarah M says

      We encourage our daughter to “recycle” coloring pages by using both sides. We also use any blank paper that comes into the house for art projects.

    17. Andie says

      My three year old helps me with recycling and hanging up laundry. Sometimes we discuss the choices we make, and the effects they have on the planet. We talk about how some green choices can save money (having only one car and walking instead of driving, thrift shopping), but some green choices cost more money, or at least initially (solar panels, cloth pads, organic food), and sometimes green choices take a little extra time, such as when we hang dry clothes. I think adding discussion, and asking her to think about what she will choose when she grows up makes the chores go quickly, and adds meaning to why we are doing them

    18. Shanna says

      My kids are addicted to saving coke cans! They recycle the pop tabs and give them to the Ronald McDonald House for their project and love to crush the cans so we can have them recycled.

    20. Wendy Jo says

      Our daughter helps in all aspects of our green living. We are always discussing the importance of the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recyle). My daughter loves to sort the recycling into the different bins. She carries her school lunch in a bento box and uses a stainless steel water bottle. She helps with the garden and with the compost. She loves sorting through her clothes to give to her younger/smaller friends. She even pretent nurses her baby dolls mimicking mommy and her baby brother.

    22. jacque says

      We teach ours to recycle cans. They like to go around and make a game of it to see who finds the most.

    25. Catherine says

      I was so proud of my 4-year-old for bringing home his yogurt container from lunch. He told his teachers he is “collecting them.” 🙂 We take No. 5 plastics to recycle at Whole Foods, and he is making sure we don’t miss his yogurt container.

    27. Christy says

      I think the best way to “teach” kids to be green(er) is to lead by example. My 5 year old knows that most “garbage” at our house is actually recycled or composted – and she rarely every has anything to put in the garbage can!

    30. elpi says

      My kids collecting plastic cellophane in order to make a small pillow.We cut the plastic cellophane into small pieces to have a comfortable pillow.

    31. Lill Hawkins says

      Being green is just how we are in our family, so my daughter has grown up thinking that it’s the way to live. She’s likely to take ME to task when I get lazy and do something that goes against our beliefs about recycling, reusing and reducing waste.

      She has a reverence for all living things and realizes that everything and everyone on the planet is interconnected and dependent on each other. My generation didn’t have that as kids, for the most part, growing up in the 50’s and early 60’s. It’s good to see this kind of passion for the planet in kids.

      Shine On,
      Lill

    32. momandsons says

      By setting a good example by recycling, packing a healthy lunch in a bento box. Having cloth napkins in the house and hanging our clothes out to dry.

    34. Jenna says

      i subscribe via email. A green value we teach our daughter is to use the library. We love to read and we get our books from the library. Books we want to own, we buy used on Amazon.

    35. Jenna says

      Also, teaching kids that having fun can be playing with a big box and “found” materials. No need to buy new toys all time.

    36. Jenna says

      teaching an appreciation of nature is such an important part of our lives – if our daughter loves the earth she will take care of it.

    37. Tandy says

      Being green in our family, and to my kids, Means Treating Our Bodies with Respect. In doing so, we in turn are treating the earth with respect 🙂 I involve my kids in everything I do- they do it and learn it as we do it together 🙂 they help me water/weed & harvest in the garden. They help me w/ laundry/line drying. They help handwash dishes. Most importantly, they help in the kitchen w/ meals/food, so when on their own, they feed their families traditional, healthy & sustainable foods. Also, we use essetial oils, and learn as much as we can about the human body, so we can with nutrition and natural oils & herbs, support our bodies in healing itself. To me, there is NOTHING greener, than taking control of our bodies & our health, and knowing how to help it heal w/out the use of synthetic drugs, and antibiotics that don’t work anyway. My kids see my passion, and it helps them to be more intrigued why!

    40. Shanna says

      My kids (almost four) have been asking since before their third birthday whether any given piece of trash is “garbage or recycling?” and putting it in the right place. They are also happy to explain to people at various grocery stores why we are not buying such-and-such fruit: “It’s not in season, so those [x] were grown very far away!” A little embarrassing, but I am still proud of them.

    43. Stephanie Cobb says

      I recently got my 8 year old daughter into planting seeds and starting a garden! We are also into creating art with things found in nature and with “garbage” around the house!

    46. Alyssa Lee says

      Since I was young, I was always the one in the family that kept our house as green as possible. Lately, that has gone a little further than usual with telling my mom to not buy canned food, packaged snacks, use plastic grocery bags, drive to the store, all that stuff. It’s been hard for her since she’s really busy, but that’s why I spend so much time on sites like yours – I try to find ways to make it easier! I also have a little brother I’ve been “training” and he’d love to have a book The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do To Save The Earth. The doll is lovely as well. I’m not much of a nail polish user but that’s always been because the smell makes me sick. I know lots of people who are though, and I’d love to be able to pass on the Hopskotch nail polish and a good message! Thanks for the opportunity!

    51. Jennifer Allen says

      Being green is a part of life for us. My 5 year old helps makes a run to the compost, she recycles, she gives her old toys to goodwill, and she knows that if any food is a bright color, it is off limits!

      I follow you in FB, twitter and RSS.

    52. Melanie says

      We have made a huge family commitment to going green last summer. My children are learning to recycle. We also compost. I recently bought the Vapur anti-bottle and the kids use those every day for there water at school.
      [email protected]

    54. Sarah M says

      We shop at our local organic farm. The kids learn about where their food comes from and we talk about the importance of eating fresh, organic and local.

    55. Gabbie says

      I make my laundry soap for my family and it works great. It is alot better for my family. You can make it really easily. With a laundry soap bar, baking soda, borax and washing soda.

    60. Kimberly Sypert says

      Instilling it in them since birth means that they don’t have to be retaught but rather ARE green. The people that aren’t are the odd ones!

    62. tina reynolds says

      make it fun and rewardful, my kids love helping me with the recycling we make it a little game tossing the cans in seeing who get there bin full first its a lot of fun for them [email protected]