In the world of today many people do not realise how much we need to care for our environment. With global warming and the destruction of ozone layer upon us, this may be the critical time to realise that we have to take care of our planet. Many generations today do not seem to understand that their doing will affect the lives of other people, but this negative paradigm can change. It is through a completely new generation that we can help change the world. Teaching children from their earliest age to be eco-friendly can bring a lot of benefits in the future. Here is how you should do it.
The learning process
Children learn through experience. It is their parents, grandparents and older brothers and sister that they learn how to behave. If they see you throw a juice bottle on the pavement, the odds are that they will learn that this is okay, so they will do it tomorrow as well. This is why you should learn to be a good model. If you want your child to be eco-friendly both inside and outside the home, the process of learning should be introduced slowly and gradually.
Make an example of yourself
This should be your priority and a habit you should introduce since your child’s birth. Children are known to soak up every little thing thrown their way, like tiny sponges willing to learn and follow examples, especially by their parents. This is why you are the main figure in their environmental consciousness. Given that they will surely mimic your behaviour, if you see how you turn off the water while brushing teeth, they will most likely do that as well. Or if you turn off the light every time you leave the room, do the recycling, go shopping with reusable bags and care for nature all around.
Installing this kind of model for their future behaviour should start as early as possible, that way you’ll make sure to bring a happy, well-educated and Earth-loving and caring adult in the world.
Teach them to live with the nature
The main thing your child needs to know is that we all come from nature, and that is why we should take care of it. What you can do is to teach your child new skills from early age, for example how to plant a tree, how to grow fruit and vegetables and help them grow their own green fingers. It is learning from experience that they will become better people, especially once they see the fruit of their hard work – that beautiful flower opening each day. Taking care of animals, especially endangered ones, will make them fully understand the world better. You can teach them to donate money for animal protection and some day this can even turn into them fighting for the rights of endangered species
Recycling
The first thing your child needs to do is to separate rubbish. Teach your child that it should separate rubbish into different rubbish bins. You can make it a game – who can do it faster, or who can separate faster. If you child is a small one, you can also incorporate wooden toys to the teaching process, so that they can learn from experience how to properly recycle and make this their habit. And do not stop with the rubbish; teach them to recycle clothes and reuse their toys as well. For example, if you have two or three children, teach them that it is okay to use their older brother’s or sister’s clothes or toys to save the environment.
And finally, it cannot be stressed enough how much we need to adjust our lives and dedicate them to environmental protection. This is why it is so crucial that the future generations learn from the earliest ages about the world that they are going to live in, that they should take care of it for their children as well.
