It’s important that kids understand the importance of saving energy and becoming ambassadors for a greener and healthier environment, as they grow older. They don’t have to get on picket fences or wave banners around, but they can be taught to save energy in the home and at school, from a young age.
There are a great number of ways to educate your kids and it’s so simple. Small routines such as teaching them to only run the tap when they are rinsing their toothbrush to only using three sheets of toilet roll when they’ve been to the toilet can make a big difference. Not only will it reduce your costs but they’ll also come to understand that their actions have an impact on the world around them.
You can also help by only using eco friendly household items, such as Brosch Direct paper products or installing a compost bin in your garden to break down plant debris and food waste. Assign energy saving jobs to your kids to give them the green bug, for example give them the responsibility of making sure all the lights are turned off when someone leaves the room or the job of turning off plugs when an electronic device is finished being used, so it isn’t left on standby and therefore wasting energy.
Teach them to take their good habits to school and they could even educate staff on the importance of energy saving. Try to get in touch with staff and encourage them to teach energy saving tips whilst kids are at school, they can easily be incorporated into science lessons about the environment or PSHE lessons for when children are learning about playing an active role in their local area or a positive part in the home.
Sustainability is becoming a part of the curriculum for most schools and that teaching energy saving is best started at primary school level. This means that kids will have access to information from an early age and learn to understand that everything they do makes an impact on the environment. We don’t need to scare them with images of stranded polar bears on icebergs or the desolation of a rainforest and a count of all the animals that will have suffered – energy saving simply starts at home, with the little things.
You can contact the local council if the school isn’t actively planning to teach children about energy saving and they can then arrange day visits and activity days for the school to help out. It’s important they are taught the importance of saving energy in both home and education environments and that they also see adults practicing what they preach by ensuring they too are carrying out their own instructions and saving energy.
Kids who know about the importance of energy saving will question when a school doesn’t provide a recycling bin for the numerous pieces of paper that are thrown away throughout the school day, due to mistakes or misprinting. They could become tiny eco warriors in the classroom.
Try and ensure children create the best one possible future for themselves with a little helping hand from the adults and educational authorities around them.
This is a guest post