Parent Resources for Growing Green Children
Posted by Lisa Carey
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” ~Native American Proverb
As I try to prepare for the future of the environment for my children, I have read several books in the hope that they will give me new ideas for teaching my family and children how to care for the environment, through conservation, involvement, reduce, reuse and recycling habits and sharing our knowledge with others. Some of my reading has been a “strike” and others a “home run.”
My most recent effort at find new and creative ideas for “going green” for the whole family is the book, “Change the World for Ten Bucks: Small Actions x Lots of People = Big Change.” Available on Amazon for $7.00, I was excited to spend so little on a book that could possible provide me with new and creative ideas and actions for creating a cleaner environment, making a change and preparing for the future. This is a social activist book, published by We Are What We Do, a social change movement. The book arrives and as I open it I begin to read the 106 page book that is really nothing more than each page with an action and sometimes a photo or graphic to illustrate the action. Many of them are actually quite, well, it sounds harsh, but useless. The book provides incentives to do many things that they say will “change the world” and that cost very little money. While it has many promising suggestions, like decline plastic bags at the grocery store, use less water, and recycle it off sets those suggestions with ideas like, “smile more” or take up yoga.
What could be most disappointing about the book is its lack of organization. I think I would have liked it much better if I could have read the pages on the environment all in one section or those that are the nice things to do in life in another section. Organization and a table of contents could have done a great deal towards making this book a great deal more user friendly and give me the suggestions I am looking for as opposed to “bake a cake for a friend for no reason” While all these suggestions are noble in their efforts each and every one of them was nothing new to me. Another problem with the book was the lack of actual facts. For instance one page featured a stick figure brushing teeth in a pool to represent the amount of water wasted by leaving the water on while brushing your teeth. Yes, conservation of water is very important, but I really would like to know how much water is estimated to be lost due to this habit, not to be told simply to quit using the water.
The book has a noble goal, that of social change and reform, a changing of habits to make the world a better place and these changes include many environmental ones. However, the “lameness” of the ideas, lack of facts and figures, juvenile nature of the graphics and lack of originality left me wanting so much more from this book, which I read in about 20 minutes.
On the other hand, I found the book, “The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth,” to be helpful, creative, innovative and engaging. In order to truly effect lasting change on the environment, it is important that our children are taught environmentally friendly habits as well as ways and means to create change for a lifetime. In addition to the 50 simple things kids can do there are also sections on eco-experiments, and quick quizzes. Not only does the book provide ideas for creating a lasting environmental social change but it teaches children about empowerment, self confidence, and provides reasons for doing the changes it suggests. While the book has a child like quality that will appeal to children ages 7-12 it is definitely a book that you can read with your children in this age group finding both reinforcement for changes in your life and habits toward protecting the environment but also provide them with reasons for making these changes as a family. In addition to suggestions, there are action lists giving children and parents a “to do list” or blueprint toward making the environmental changes they express an interest in. Not only does the book provide a good list of ideas, with plans for making change; but also provide a website to continue your efforts as well as provide additional support for the environmental changes and improvements you make not only with your family but the world around you.
With this book you can find many wonderful suggestions for those wanting to be involved in conservation and the protecting the environment through several different avenues of involvement, but also the why, ways and means for doing so. The book, The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth shows that children can make a difference and influence change on the environment now and for a long time to come.
What we do as parents is important for the world and environment to come for our children, but even more than our efforts to preserve and conserve, is our efforts to teach our children why we do what we do to protect the environment and provide them with the education, information, and tools to continue those efforts as what will do today will truly affect the life that our children live tomorrow.
For more information on Growing Green Children visit our “10 Tips for Growing Green Children”
Books Reviewed in this post:
Change the World for Ten Bucks: Small Actions x Lots of People = Big Change.
The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth
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