• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to header navigation
  • Skip to footer navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Display Search Bar
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Facebook Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Twitter Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Pinterest Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Instagram Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on YouTube Follow 5 Minutes For Mom via RSS

5 Minutes for Mom

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Course
      • Breakfast and Brunch
      • Snack
      • Lunch
      • Appetizer
      • Dinner
      • Dessert
    • Ingredient
      • Apple
      • Beef
      • Blueberry
      • Chicken
      • Chocolate
      • Cranberry
      • Peach
      • Pumpkin
      • Squash
      • Strawberry
      • Tomato
      • Vegetables
      • Zucchini
    • Method
      • Air Fryer
      • Baking
      • Grilling
      • Instant Pot
      • No Bake
      • One Dish
      • Slow Cooker
    • Type
      • Breads and Rolls
      • Cakes and Muffins
      • Condiments
      • Cookies and Bars
      • Drinks
      • Food for Kids
      • Gluten-Free
      • Main Dish
      • Pies and Crisps
      • Salads
      • Sandwiches and Wraps
      • Side Dishes
      • Smoothies
      • Soup
  • Crafts & DIY
    • Crafts
    • DIY
    • Kids Crafts
    • Printables
    • Scrapbooking
    • Sewing
  • Family Life
    • Giveaways
    • Lifestyle
    • Marriage
    • Motherhood
    • Parenting
    • Pet Care
    • Special Needs
    • Time Management
    • Travel
  • Holidays
    • New Year’s
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Mother’s Day
    • Fourth of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas

5 Tips for Teaching Your Kids To Be Eco-Friendly

May 22, 2015 by Guest Contributor

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

ShareTweetPinPocketMail

How can you as a parent help your kids become eco-friendly, caring stewards of the beautiful world they live in?

5 Tips for Teaching Your Kids to be Eco-Friendly

There are so many stresses on the environment that many scientists believe we are in the midst of one of the largest extinctions that has ever occurred on earth. Add to that the fact that many of our natural resources are finite and it’s clear that instilling a sense of awareness and care for the natural environment is incredibly important for today’s youth.

A generation without concern for the world’s precious ecosystems and natural resources could be the final stressor that pushes the world into a dangerous imbalance that it won’t be able to recover from.

Here are 5 ways you can help your children be more eco-friendly…

Tip 1. Model the behaviors you would like your children to value.

If they see you carelessly toss recyclables into the trash, what do you think they will do?

Tip 2. Set up an easy to use recycling system in your kitchen.

Make it easy for them to comply by having individual bins for cardboard and paper, glass, cans and plastics. The younger you introduce them to this system, the more certain it will become a life-long habit for them.

Tip 3. Let them know early on why you recycle.

Kids understand a lot more than we often give them credit for. Show them a big beautiful tree in the yard and how it provides shelter for so many birds, insects, and animals. Then show them paper, and explain that most paper is made from cut down trees. You will be surprised at the impact this simple lesson will have.

Tip 4. Make connections to their immediate environment to explain the “why” behind what they are doing.

Help make their actions more meaningful to them.

Research now shows that the young generation is very disconnected from the natural world.
Rather than going outside to explore the woods, fish or swim in a pond, or just lie on their backs and watch the clouds, kids are mostly indoors at school, watching TV, playing video games or shopping at the mall.

When they are outdoors, they are usually participating in sports and have little time to watch the world around the ball field. If you don’t introduce them to the wonders of nature, who else will?

This is the only way they can truly have an interest in and feelings of concern for the environment. A trip to the zoo is fine to show them animals from other continents, but what they really need is a sense of connection to their immediate environment.

Tip 5. Get active and involved in nature.

Seek out local, state or national parks that have programs for youth and families.

Definitely introduce them to the wonders found in your own backyard. Set up bird feeders and get your kids a bird identification field guide. Show them how many of the most endearing birds we see in at our feeders and in the trees during the summer migrate as far away as southern hemisphere in the winter.

This helps give them a sense of how the whole world is connected and provides them with a real life example of how what happens there affects what happens here. Eco-friendly kids really do require constant exposure to the natural world, so be their guide.

If you didn’t spend a great amount of time exploring the outdoors in your youth, you will learn plenty from your family excursions too.

Share With Your Friends

We’d love, love, love a tweet or a pin…

[Tweet “5 Tips for Teaching Your Kids To Be Eco-Friendly”]

5 Tips for Teaching Your Kids to be Eco-Friendly

An earlier version of this post was written by Grace Pamer and published on our sister site, 5 Minutes for Going Green on Feb 21, 2012.

ShareTweetPinPocketMail
5 Tips to Keep You Hydrated This Summer
Disney’s Tomorrowland Movie Now in Theaters – #Tomorrowland

Reader Interactions


Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

1 Comment

  1. Heather says

    May 26, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    Great tips. Where we live (Scotland) we have to recycle everything – including food waste – which I personally think is a good thing.

    However, this has been gradually introduced over the past 8 or 9 years, with food waste being the most recent type of waste to be added to the recycling items. So, while I’ve had to learn to do this, it’s second nature to my kids who have grown up with it. There have been count times when I’ve thrown a bit of paper or a banana skin in the waste – either absent-mindedly or accidentally – only for one or both kids to shout ‘that goes in the recycling!’ I think it’s fantastic that they’re growing up with it as the ‘norm’.

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Bringing Moms Together

We are Janice and Susan, twin bloggers and work-at-home moms. We're here to inspire, encourage & empower you.

Meet Us…

Work With Us…

Subscribe via Email

to be first to read new posts

Trending Now

“You Color My World” Free Printable Valentines

“You Color My World” Free Printable Valentines

Oven Roasted Potatoes and Peppers Recipe

Oven Roasted Potatoes and Peppers Recipe

How To Use A Moka Pot – Discover The Secret To Making Amazing Coffee At Home

How To Use A Moka Pot – Discover The Secret To Making Amazing Coffee At Home

Get Outside and Play with Spray Chalk

Get Outside and Play with Spray Chalk

browse around

  • Posts by Susan
  • Posts by Janice
  • Favorite Recipes
  • Favorite Crafts
  • Giveaways
  • All Posts

Footer

Recipes

St. Patrick’s Day Sugar Cookies with a Clever Decorating Trick

St. Patrick’s Day Sugar Cookies with a Clever Decorating Trick

Traditional Irish Soda Bread Recipe and History

Traditional Irish Soda Bread Recipe and History

Easy Valentine Sugar Cookies

Easy Valentine Sugar Cookies

Crafts/DIY

“You Color My World” Free Printable Valentines

“You Color My World” Free Printable Valentines

Buddy the Elf Hat Pattern – How to Make an Elf Hat out of Felt

Buddy the Elf Hat Pattern – How to Make an Elf Hat out of Felt

20 Free Summer Printables For Kids

20 Free Summer Printables For Kids

Giveaways

Holiday Gift Guides and Christmas Giveaway 2024

Holiday Gift Guides and Christmas Giveaway 2024

Valentine’s Day Gifts For Women

Valentine’s Day Gifts For Women

REDEEMING LOVE Set to Strike Gold on the Big Screen #RedeemingLoveMovie

REDEEMING LOVE Set to Strike Gold on the Big Screen #RedeemingLoveMovie

Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Facebook Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Twitter Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Pinterest Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on Instagram Follow 5 Minutes For Mom on YouTube Follow 5 Minutes For Mom via RSS
  • About
  • Contact
  • Work with Us
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2025 5 Minutes for MomTheme by Melissa Rose Design and Once Coupled