Staying Green: How Families Can Show Mother Nature They Care

Living green is becoming a way of life for many communities. Most people already realise the importance of saving the planet and there are many ways to show mother nature that we care.

Reduce

Rampant consumption has been one of the key factors in the demise of our environment. According to an educational site, Sciencing.com, “our planet has a limited amount of natural resources and a limited capacity to process waste.” The burgeoning population consumes mass quantities of food, fuel, and materials on a daily basis. By cutting back on the quantity of products we use, we can make a huge impact on how many of the Earth’s resources are being depleted. For example, we can start using less paper. Think of cutting down completely on your paper mail, as according to camera bag manufacturer Wandrd,if everyone jumped on board it would reduce landfill waste by 800,00 tons in the U.S. alone.” Eating less, driving less, and using less are simple ways to reduce your carbon footprint. One of the biggest contributors to energy usage is due to poorly insulated homes, if we can minimise our heating demand through insulation the UK’s energy usage would be dramatically reduced.

Reuse

We no longer have the luxury of being a disposable society. At the peak of consumerism, it meant nothing to buy items, use them once, and throw them away. Today, we need to learn to reuse items and keep them out of landfills. With a little creativity, bottles, cans, bags, and boxes can often find a second, or even third life. If everyone refilled their water bottle just once before throwing it in the recycling bin, we would obviously only need half of the bottles being produced.

Recycle

“Hand-me-downs” is not a dirty word. Any time an item gets another life, that’s recycling. Most communities have facilitates you can take almost everything recyclable, even tetra packs, compost or old working TV’s, and so there is no excuse to have multiple black bags every week, or throw your old TV away. If you have a hard time getting your younger children start recycling, start with paper recycling as it can be easier to explain. Put out a bin in the kitchen or in the garage, and instruct them to place all paper they want to throw away there. Since many children understand that paper usually comes from trees, the explanation of why recycling is important can be simplified and better delivered when starting small.

Shop responsibly

For the things that we must buy, we can seek out products that are ethically grown, harvested, and manufactured. According to BrioStack, businesses are following customer demands in many industries and moving towards greener solutions. By making sure the things we purchase have been provided by companies who offer fair trade and environmentally sound practices, we can create clean commerce. For example, think of different ways of heating your home, or ways to cut down on using so much electricity. 

 

The best way to teach is by example and the best way to learn is by doing. It is not enough to simply talk about making a difference, we must act, as a collective consciousness, toward living the difference. With the whole family working together, we can shrink our carbon footprints and create a better environment for generations to come.

What can we help you with?

Request a Call Back