Are you an eco-warrior parent and hope to teach your children the principles of eco-friendliness, viz, The 3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle? Or are you the responsible recycler who doesn’t step out of the house without a jute bag and reusable water bottles for yourself and the kids? Do you ardently follow Greta Thunberg and consider yourself just a travel ticket away from her next climate change crusade?
If your answer is yes to all of the above, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance!
As an environmentally responsible educational institution ourselves, we at SSVM Residential School, Mettupalayam– a top-ranked CBSE school in Coimbatore, regularly enlist the help of our school children when it comes to undertaking ecological endeavors. Imparting holistic education and therefore, ranked as the best school in Coimbatore, we’ve learned some valuable lessons in earth-friendly practices specific for our children.
Be that as it may, we’d love to share some snappy tips on getting your family and the local community started on the way to greener living – So what do you say, shall we get started?
Great things happen when a ME becomes a WE
As we’re sure you will agree, even the best earth-friendly practices require the collaboration of everybody in the family unit – else you’ll remain the lonely crusader in a long-drawn fight.
But, how do you, as a responsible parent, get children to follow the 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) and get the family to pitch in with their ecological duties?
In answer to this question, the most ideal approach to train children is to set an example starting with YOU. By demonstrating that you care about and regard the earth as your home, your family, and community will be encouraged to do likewise.
Below we’ve listed a few ways in which you can enlist the children’s help in adopting, encouraging, and sharing their eco-friendly lifestyle habits-
THE FAMILY THAT RECYCLES TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER
Reduce, Recycle and Reuse is the bedrock principle for those who wish to follow an eco-friendly lifestyle. And guess what – Adopting the 3 R’s is not that hard.
If the children simply start by adopting the 3 R principles for all their stuff (books, clothes, and toys) they’ll find that it can be ridiculously simple and can be applied to nearly almost everything in their surroundings.
As a parent, you may need to find out the nearby NGO or Government unit guidelines. Help the children out by researching which NGO or Government network collects what. Some networks may permit the mixing together of all recyclables, while others might require arranging the recyclables into specific containers.
Like charity, recycling too begins at home: Do as most ‘responsible recycler parents’ do – Purchase and place containers for each sort of recyclable, namely for tins, paper, plastic, and glass.
With this little initiation ceremony, encourage the children to sort things out and place them in the right receptacles. The first few times, you may have to take the compartments out to check if the accumulation has been done correctly.
Once the container items have been recycled, request that your children wash them out (on the off chance that they’re filthy) and place them once again at their original places.
Remember, for children and adults alike, repetition is key even when it comes to recycling. Once the kids have gone through the process again and again, soon enough, Reducing, Recycling and Reusing will become an automatic reflex.
GO FRUGAL
It is no secret that the garment, beauty and style business, though glamorous, contributes a great deal to landfill waste. And so, rather than asking the children to entirely stop shopping you can instead let moderation be the guiding mantra for them.
How?
Allow the kids to give the garments they’ve disposed of another opportunity by sharing them with the local NGO. Encourage them to shop at second-hand shops, pre-loved online stores or bring out the heirloom garments of the family and restyle them to suit their tastes.
Fashion can go hand in hand with the responsibility we think!
