5 Ways to Raise Environmental Awareness in Your Child

Just as the famous saying goes, “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our descendants”. And I absolutely 100% agree with this quote. I want my child to be able to experience the beauty of nature, without having to go to a famous tourist spot. I want them to see more and more diverse species, and not only from pictures because more and more are going extinct. So from one learning parent to another, I’m going to share with you 5 simple ways you can raise a little environmental steward in your home.

1. Model turning off switches and lights. In particular, model this practice when leaving the rooms and no one is there. Children are extremely absorbent and observant. They also repeat the things we do, sometimes (maybe even most of the time), the things that we aren’t so proud of. Hence, why not build this habit among us, the adults, by narrating to them that we are leaving the room, and to teach them where the switches are. Go one step further if you can place or tweak the switches in your child’s room to be child height so that they can practice it as they leave their own rooms. Fostering independence and responsibility early on? Why not.

2. Teach them to properly close the faucets. We need to teach our kids early on that water is not a finite resource, and to only use them when needed and not running always in the background. This is especially applicable when we’re just brushing our teeth or washing our faces. Even during bath times, you can also teach them the practice of using a pail and dipper rather than using the showerhead.

3. Always bring a ‘litter bag’ and a reusable bag. Be ready to carry around a litter bag during your walks to pick up pieces of trash that you and your kid sees. Or to at least simply have a place to throw his/her trash should they have one. Litter bags can be netted drawstring bags which you can easily wash after usage. Whenever I bring my kid to a playground, there’s always some form of trash to be disposed of. Teach our kids to be kind not just to other people, but to the entire environment as a whole.

4. Be firm with your rules of what they can bring home. Letting them take only a few samples of their ‘flowers’ or ‘leaves’ or ‘worms’ is ok so long as they follow the respective rules and regulations of your local area and make sure that you place them in a proper home in your own home. Another rule of thumb is to make sure to return them to the right place after a few days of observing them if they’re live animals. Teach them that even our furry and small friends need to go back to their proper habitat.

5. Teach them to leave the place as they found them. Except for the occasional trash that is not naturally found in nature, make sure that your child as much as possible takes nothing and leaves nothing in their field trips, hiking excursions, or even simple park visitations. Prep them ahead of time of this rule before actually leaving for the field trips and make sure to keep the conversation going of how important it is to preserve our environment to remain as it is for other people to enjoy, and it is not ours for the taking but for us to care for.

So there you have it. My five simple ways on how to teach your kid to become stewards of the environment. Comment down below any more of your tips to raise environmental stewardship in our kids! Because we all know that we need such knowledge and that all our small acts can add up to something greater than we can imagine it to be. Here’s to taking care of our environment for our future descendants!!