Eco-friendly activities for the whole family
What Canadian parent hasn’t heard the wail, “I’m bored!” at least once during a summer vacation? While in previous years the instinct might have been to load up the SUV and take a road trip, more and more eco-conscious parents are looking for ways to entertain their families while also keeping carbon emissions to a minimum. Here are a few green-themed ideas to keep your family busy this summer while staying close to home:
1. Let it grow: Whether you’ve got a backyard garden or a condo balcony, let your children help tend to the plants. If you’ve got the space, let your children choose vegetables they’d like to grow, and help them through the process of planting, watering, weeding and eventually picking the vegetables. Chances are they won’t wrinkle their nose at the taste of these home-grown veggies. If you’re limited to a window garden or balcony plants, try growing fresh herbs or tomatoes.
2. Consider composting: If you haven’t started a compost yet, make it a family project. If you’ve got kids who love to get dirty, this is the job for them: they’ll be fascinated with the transformation of egg shells, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peels and yard waste and will undoubtedly want to be in charge of turning or aerating the compost.
3. Encourage environmental efforts: If you’ve got a teenager who would rather spend time with friends than with the whole family, encourage involvement in an environmental club or effort such as the Otesha Project (www.otesha.ca), a youth movement towards sustainable consumption or the Canon Envirothon (www.envirothon.org), North America’s largest high school environmental education competition where teens solve real environmental issues through in-class projects and hands-on field experiences.
4. Rainy day recycling: Gloomy weather outside doesn’t mean you have to put your green efforts on hold and flip on the TV for the kids. Use the indoor day to sort through items that you might no longer need and put two of the Rs (reduce and reuse) into practice by prepping for a yard sale or a donation to a local charity.
5. Book it: If they don’t have them already, take your entire family to get library cards and support frequent visits. Not only does this reduce family purchases, it encourages your family to read.
Web links:
Otesha Project www.otesha.ca
Canon Envirothon www.envirothon.org
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