How Can Kids Help The Environment?

Kids are the future. As cliche as that sounds, it is the truth. Teaching them good habits while they are young could make a huge difference in their life and the life of the planet.

Even teaching them one or two of these ideas can make a big difference throughout their life. Here are some great ways that kids can help protect the environment.

1. Conserve Water

There are a lot of little ways to conserve water. Turning off the water while brushing teeth, taking shorter showers, or having less water in the bathtub are all small ways kids can save water. Kids can catch the water from the shower or the sink while it is warming up and use it to water plants too.

2. Minimize Food Waste

Kids can help put food away after meals. This teaches them proper food storage. Hopefully, this will also encourage eating leftovers.

3. Pick Up Trash

This can apply to picking up after themselves. Teaching them the “leave no trace” theory early hopefully will translate to “it may not be their trash, but it is their planet” as they get older.

4. Recycling

Learn what materials can and cannot be recycled and then take the bins out each week. A fun idea might be to put out different colored bins and make it a game to slam dunk it into the correct one.

5. Upcycle

Get the craft supplies out! It can be a small project like painting toilet paper rolls or a big project like using some upcycled wood to make a plantar garden. Getting kids involved and showing them that reusing materials to create something new will spark their creativity and help the planet.

6. Reuse

Pack a lunchbox with reusable utensils and use reusable water bottles. This might not be doable all the time, but doing it when possible will still save a little waste. Plastic containers from the store can be washed out and used to store toys, crayons, and other trinkets.

7. Avoid Disposables and Plastic

This is harder to do for kids than it is for adults – and it is almost impossible to live without plastic completely. That being said, children can learn to choose more eco-friendly alternatives to plastic when they are given options. 

8. Close Doors

Closing the outside doors will keep the heat or cool inside, saving money and energy on electricity. This applies to the refrigerator door too, just on a smaller scale.

9. Save on Electricity

Turning off lights and unplugging electronics when they are not being used are habits that will save energy and money. Turning electronics off when they are not in use will also save a little bit on electricity. Even if they are still plugged in.

10. Compost

Composting is available in one form or another in almost every living situation. Composting is one way to cut down on the amount of waste that is sent to the landfill.

The organic matter that is sent to the landfill does not break down and go back into the soil. It sits in an unaerated pile of garbage and puts off methane gas.

A compost bin with worms is a great nature lesson on top of being good for the planet. If worms are not desirable, compost can be collected in a pail on the counter or housed in the freezer until it can be composted.

Many vegetable farmers will take compost back to farmer’s markets. Compost can also be buried directly into the ground.

11. Walk or Ride a Bike

If the store, park, or library is within walking or biking distance, it might be a nice family outing. This also has the added benefits of getting outside in the fresh air and getting some exercise.

12. Give Experience Gifts

Giving gifts that are experiences instead of material is a great way to cut down on waste and spend some time together. One idea is for kids to make a coupon book and give it to their parents.

Parents can cash in these coupons at any time. The gifts might include a night of cooking together, a family game night, or anything else the kids can think of. This is a great time to get creative!

13. Care for Plants and Animals

Showing children the importance of caring for the land and the animals that live there will be a lesson that they spread to others.

Everyone can make a difference and everyone can do a little something to care for the environment around them. This can be as simple as leaving water out for animals if there is a dry spell.

14. Start a Garden

Many lessons can be learned from a garden. Hard work, patience, and how food is grown and harvested are just a few lessons the garden has to teach.

Gardening helps the mind and body. Not to mention, it can lead to some pretty yummy food. Having a garden in the backyard or even just planting herbs on the windowsill can lessen the amount of food bought from the store.

The closer the food is grown to home, the lower the carbon footprint. Gardening is good for adults’ health too, so this is a great group activity. If a backyard garden is not an option, maybe a community garden is available.

15. Volunteer

Environmentally conscious nonprofits are becoming more popular these days. Kids can get involved in local trash cleanups, help pack snack bags for children who are food insecure, or do a variety of other activities.

There are a variety of volunteer activities kids can get involved in depending on their age level. A quick Internet search will be able to show the nonprofits in an area where kids can volunteer. Getting children involved in volunteer work when they are young will build that moral in them and that will hopefully continue as they get older.

16. Take Action

Roots & Shoots is a program of the Jane Goodall Institute. It is a youth program that helps students “to use their voice and actions to make compassionate decisions, influencing and leading change in their communities.” They are in all 50 states in the United States and more than 60 countries.