Living Green: The Missing Manual

Kids

Children love to explore the world around them, and you can explore right beside them. A child's wonder at nature is contagious—your own appreciation of the earth will increase while you teach good habits and respect for the planet.

Teaching Respect for the Earth

When children grow up in a household that respects the environment, they learn to respect it, too. Here are some ways to foster an appreciative, earth-friendly attitude in your child:

• Set a good example. Your kids watch you and learn from your actions. If you show them earth-friendly habits, they'll imitate you. Instead of littering, for example, use a trash can or recycling bin—and explain why. Rather than driving, walk, bike, or take the bus. Instead of carting home plastic shopping bags, take your own reusable bags to the store. You get the idea.

• Get kids involved in recycling. Don't present recycling as a chore—make it a game. Children like solving the "puzzle" of putting different materials into their bins. Crushing aluminum cans can be fun, too.

• Teach reuse. Show your kids that you don't need to throw things away after using them just once. Ask kids to come up with ideas for reusing things around the house. KinderArt has a page with all kinds of suggestions for craft projects like grocery-bag kites, a coffee-can drum, handmade recycled paper, and lots more; head to www.kinderart.com/recycle.

• Praise earth-friendly actions. When your child turns off the TV after watching it, closes the fridge after getting a snack, or ...