Because going green is more than a fad, it’s a way of living that honors balance, teaching children about harmonious interaction with our environment can be done in many little ways that encourage children to think about their place in the larger picture and take steps to live a balanced lifestyle. The following are some going green tips for involving children in decision-making that benefits each other and the environment.

Very young children

Children from toddler age to preschool are fascinated with the objects and beings in their environment, and take easily to ideas about general conservation. With lights this might mean talking about how we should only make the light we need and so we turn off lights that are not in use. Point out to children that only a slight stream of water is necessary to wash hands, rather than a fully open faucet.

Young children will especially enjoy sorting of items for recycling. Sorting various plastics or paper products can be made into a fun going green game that young children will enjoy and even look forward to.

You can involve even the youngest children in picking out ripe fruit and vegetables, as well as how left over food items are not waste, but useful items that can be put back into the earth via composting.

Elementary school age children

Children this age are generally ready for some more thoughtful discussion and exploration of environmental issues. Encourage them to explore environmental issues by creating fun challenges and discussion. You can talk about creative ways to reuse items around the house. Take a look at these creative recycling ideas for some inspiration.

You can continue to encourage children to consider ways of reducing their consumption and waste by adding little tips that save water and electricity. For example, try to help your kids get in the habit of turning all electronics when they’re not using them. For water conservation this might mean reminding them not to leave the faucet running while they’re brushing their teeth, or showing them that it takes less water to wash fruits and veggies in a bowl of water rather than running water the whole time.

Give children going green chores, such as sorting all the junk mail or plastic containers into separate recycle bins. Take them into the garden -or start a garden together. Composting and gardening are great ways to connect with nature and develop deeper understanding about harmony between self, others and the environment. For younger children and grade school aged kids, the simple act of putting food waste into the compost container can be a fun and unique experience. You may find it easiest (and least smelly) to use a smaller compost container for collecting food waste in the kitchen, and then have children take turns emptying the container into the larger compost bin/area.

Older Kids

Reusing items can be one of the more challenging topics for kids this age, but it can be made into fun decisions and brainstorming. Rather than buy new items when something breaks or starts to wear out, fix it or patch it. You might make a fun experiment out of tracking all the items that were reused instead of bought new again, and to consider the money saved and the lighter impact that these decisions make over a month or a year.

Kids this age are ready for more responsibility when it comes to sharing household duties, so making green living a part of these activities is easy to do. Teach kids that when washing dishes the best way to conserve water is to use one basin of soapy water and one basin of rinse water rather than running water the entire time. If you only have one sink basin, consider using a large container for the rinse basin, or set soapy dishes in the drain rack while they wait for the rinse cycle. If your kids are responsible for mowing the lawn, teach them to leave the grass clippings to nourish the lawn.

More about composting and gardening –Even if you don’t have a garden there are benefits to composting and it doesn’t take all that much space either. Join or start a community composting program so that people with too much compost can give it away to people with too little compost. This can also lead to even greater cooperation and networking for trading goods and services with community members. Get your kids to participate in community composting, or work together to start one on in your neighborhood.

Kids of any age like unique outings. Take them with you to do clean up activities at the local park, river, beach, etc. Whether you participate in larger organized clean-ups a few times a year, or pick up trash on your street, help encourage older kids to keep their environment clean.

Older kids can be given chores to go shopping for local produce. If you have a farmer’s market nearby, this can be a great and creative opportunity for kids to learn about native plant species, local seasonal fruits and vegetables, as well as community cooperation. Taking kids to the farmer’s market and giving them shopping duties is a way of encouraging green living habits as well as delegating some of the shopping responsibility to help encourage thoughtful decision making and money management.

As with children of all ages, encourage them to consider alternate means of transportation. This can be especially challenging for teenagers that want to drive everywhere or don’t want to take the bus to school, but again, you can make a challenge out of this. A lot of going green means to find balance. You can find compromises and make these opportunities to learn about which types of transportation use the least amount of energy, and the various pros and cons of each mode of transportation, such as the health benefits of walking or riding a bike.

The main thing about going green is to open our minds to alternative options. Wherver there’s one way of doing something, there are bound to be several other, better, ways of doing the same thing if only we remain open to additional information. By engaging in going green activities with kids you are encouraging them to develop critical thinking skills as well as creative problem solving that will come in handy throughout life. Encouraging awareness of sustainability in terms of physical resources is also good practice for finding balance within ourselves and our relationships.