Earth Day

HAPPY EARTH DAY

Earth Day falls on Thursday, April 22, 2010 and it’s the 40th Anniversary of the holiday. It’s a great time to learn about our planet and how to take care of it! Here are ways you can encourage your kids to go green during Earth Day.

Reduce Electricity – Explain to your children that lights, computers, televisions and furnaces use energy, and that energy is in short supply. Encourage your children to always flip off the light when leaving a room and shut off the TV when no longer watching. Appliances like DVD players use energy even when off, so cutting the power totally is the only way to conserve. Go shopping together to buy power bars and plug your electronics into them (watch little ones closely so there are no shocks).

Take Small Steps – There are dozens of small things your kids can do every day to save energy and keep the world cleaner and greener. Your kids can:

• Shut off the water when they brush their teeth
• Walk, ride a bike, or take the bus instead of traveling by car
• Take faster showers or baths in just a small amount of water
• Help hang clothes on the line instead of putting them in the dryer
• Choose products that are not over packaged

Recycle – Explain to your kids that every bottle and can they use is waste that just sits in a big pile at the local dump if we don’t recycle. Get them involved by making it their job to sort recyclables and take them out for pickup. Consider recycled crafts, found on the below website.

Compost – It’s easy to collect your own food scraps and garden waste and turn it into healthy compost in your own yard. Kids can see how “garbage” can become rich dark dirt to make a garden grow.

Do a Donation Tour – A great way to get across the message of “reuse” and “recycle” is to take kids on a trip to your local thrift store, recycling center, church, or temple. If your children have old clothing, toys, shoes, or other items in reusable condition, make a family trip down to the donation center so they can see how their trash is someone else’s treasure. Teach kids how items can be reused for different purposes–for example old towels, blankets, and comforters can often be donated to local animal shelters for bedding. These real-life examples will teach kids that many items they would normally throw away can actually have a second life.

Write a Letter – Your children can write letters to government leaders and corporations about pollution and other environmental issues, and you can give them a hand in looking up addresses and help them decide what they’re going to write. Talk about how you live in a democracy and every voice counts, no matter how small.

Make a Reusable Bag – Plastic shopping bags are a big garbage problem — it takes 1,000 years for a bag to break down! You and your kids can make your own bags (Check out the Earth Day website below for the Canvas Grocery Tote bag craft for detailed instructions.), or you can buy them at many grocery or craft stores.  Take the bags out with you every time you shop.

Do a Project – If your child has an independent research project coming up at school, suggest he/she tackle an environmental issue like pollution, garbage or energy. Check out these resources:

• Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Kids Club
• Environment Canada Kids
• DMOZ Open Directory Project (which organizes research sources)

Enjoy the Earth – Kids have to love the world to want to protect it. So take nature walks and look at the trees, flowers and sky. When you’re away on vacation, don’t forget to enjoy the local natural environment, not just the tourist sites. Encourage them to take pictures, draw pictures, read books and write stories about the world and its beauty.

Talk About It – Talk to your children about birds, plants, gas-guzzling vehicles and energy use. Indeed, just asking your children to shut off the lights and reuse plastic bags is not enough — they must understand why we’re doing these things and what impact they might have.

For more ways to be eco-conscious and for earth-friendly games, crafts, and activities, there are many sites online, including the one used for this article http://holidays.kaboose.com/earth-day/

The New Prospect PTA would like to wish you a happy, healthy, safe, and green Earth Day!