are earned reward them with a special movie night or plant planted in their honor. They can even help plant, making them feel their efforts created the opportunity.
* Walk it Off-Children love to discover outdoors, try walking with your child to school, the bus or even to the store when feasible, giving them extra fitness throughout the day.
* Junk Mail Avengers- Each year, 100 million trees are cut down and turned into junk mail, with Americans receiving a total of 400 million tons of it every year. Earthworks Group, an environmental consulting firm, said cutting out junk mail is one of the most effective things people can do to reduce pollution. Don’t just let it keep coming…get on the phone and make it known that you want off their mailing lists.
Simple Actions Kids Can Take to Go Green For Teens
Older children can really be helpful around the house when trying to green up the place! They want responsibilities to feel needed and you can always use the help.
* Unplug unused appliance, computers, printers and iPod or phone chargers for a quick energy pick-me-up. Older children are capable and feel responsible when asked to do these trickier tasks.
* Pack a waste-free lunch: Go a step further than re-using plastic bags, try to eliminate plastic bags all together, including, plastic utensils, disposable containers, and those brown bags. Instead use a PBA-freelunchbox, reusable drink container, and silverware. Have your child help you find odd pieces of used silverware at a second-hand store so you don’t lose parts of your good set. Sandwiches, fresh fruit, vegetables and treats packaged in reusable containers are healthy alternatives to cafeteria and prepackaged foods.
* Portable Music-Older children nowadays love to download music onto their portable music devices, so absolutely encourage them to download tunes instead of purchasing them at the store. Each month, more than 45 tons of CDs become obsolete — outdated or unwanted — and end up in landfills. AND, you can reward them with points all week long for recycling, turning off water, etc. so they can rack up enough points to earn a downloadable gift card for music, games or movies.
* Donate Gently Used Sport/Activity Equipment-Older kids are involved in a variety of activities, from soccer to ballet. Encourage them to gather up unused or “grown out of” equipment to donate to co-op equipment shops, in exchange for larger equipment if needed. When kids see that they are helping eliminate landfill waste AND helping someone in need get outfitted for an activity it increases self worth and self-esteem.
* It’s the Pits- When you buy deodorant for teens, try to avoid antiperspirants, which use aluminum salts to seal up your pores. In addition to being a potential health toxin, aluminum takes a tremendous amount of energy to mine. If you buy one stick of aluminum-free deodorant, the energy saved could power your laptop for 30 minutes—and any teen will tell you more laptop time is good time spent!
* Green Investing-It’s never too young to teach your teen about green investing. Have a small amount of money set aside (perhaps from a child’s allowance) for eco-investing, where the teen can choose stocks or mutual funds that that buy environmentally friendly assets—with a little help from mom and dad. You can teach your child that green investing means buying into mainstream companies that encourage sound environmental policies and sustainability, such as energy efficiency, renewable energy and green building.
1 http://familyfocusblog.com/simple-actions-kids-can-take-to-go-green/