Today is Blog Action Day 2009 and I’m joining more than 5,000 bloggers from 126 different countries to discuss climate change. Since this is a family and child-oriented blog, I decided to provide parents with 3 ways they can get their kids involved in addressing the important issue of climate change. The beauty of learning about climate change is that it can be done with children of any age. Toddlers can help out with tasks that will reduce your family’s carbon footprint while teens can begin their own grassroots efforts.
1. Have your preschooler be on light duty in the house. I know that my children loved turning lights off (and on, and off, and on hehe) but as they got into the preschool age, they mostly gave up on their light switch play. Task your preschool-aged child with turning off the lights in the house when they aren’t in use. The way we did this was to tell our children that if no one was in the room, the light should be off. As they got older, we went by the one light per person, per room rule. This is more specific to certain living areas that can be served by multiple lights.
2. Engage your elementary-aged children in a recycling program. If you already recycle your household products, the kids will be naturals. If, however, you don’t already recycle then this is a great time to get started and incorporate your children into the planning process. Go to your local library and check out a children’s book on recycling or schedule a tour at a local recycling center to see what happens to your products after you recycle them. Show your child a picture of the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch and ask them to pick out the products that they recognize. This is a great, visual way to help your child understand what can happen when products aren’t recycled.
3. Ask your teenagers what they know about climate change and how they think their actions may have a positive or negative impact on global warming. While it is important to provide your teenagers with facts about climate change, try to avoid the doomsday approach. Teens already have enough on their minds and while it is great for them to think about their impact on climate change, we don’t want them to excessively worry about the issue. Use this dialog with your teen to create a plan of action: i.e. if your teen is very passionate and about climate change, get her involved in a local grassroots organization.
Although climate change science may be confusing to even the most well-intentioned parents, it doesn’t mean that we have to avoid the topic altogether. Your preschool child doesn’t need to know the expected water level change in 50 years but if they help reduce your energy use, you’ll save money and reduce your family’s carbon footprint.
Likewise, engaging your elementary-aged child in a recycling project will help them learn about consumption and waste issues. If they understand that the water bottle they drink at lunch may end up causing damage to fish in the ocean, they may be more apt to recycle it – or better yet, take their reusable water bottle to school.
While I’m not the mom of a teen, I’m the aunt of a 12-year old…not quite a teen, but oh so close. I know that teens can be a tricky bunch to engage. Taking their lead on the topic will help guide you in how to help them learn how to address climate change issues.
I am excited to be participating in the Blog Action Day event and I look forward to reading other posts on the topic. If you’re a parent, I’d love to hear how you help address climate change issues with your children.
Read other Blog Action Day 2009 Posts
- Green term of the week: Climate Change
- Top 10 Tips for Fighting Climate Change in Your Ecosystem Garden
- Impacting Climate Change One Post at a Time
Ocean Garbage Photo credit: Ocean Conservancy
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Thanks Melissa. I’ve pretty much already done everything you suggest. Then I asked myself, “What is there beyond switching off lights, using CFLs, recycling and being aware?” For me the answer so far is to buy less stuff, drive less, grow some food, and to go more local.
I plan to join Blog Action Day – just haven’t got there yet!
Great post for Blog Action Day! I put together a short intro to Global Warming, let me know what you think.