Eco-Friendly Parenting
“Going Green” may be a dirty phrase or a distant goal for parents engrossed in the realities of diapers, dishes and dollars. However, an eco-conscious lifestyle may be closer and cleaner than you realize. Here are 3 suggestions for parents seeking to minimize their ecological footprint and increase family interaction.
Emphasize Green Toys
A horde of plastic toys strewn across the floor of toddler households is a daily reality for many parents. Not only is it a burden to clean up such a mess, but it is completely unnecessary. Children are extremely fickle creatures, often moving from one toy to the next in a matter of moments. Put two kids together and watch them squabble over the same object in a room full of toys.
Resolve both issues: go green and save cleaning time. Impossible! Not really; children around the world in the deepest poverty enjoy exhilarating times with a deflated soccer ball and their friends. Do yourself and the environment a favour and reduce the number of plastic toys in your household.
The best green toys are books. Not only is a book literally recyclable, but it is also educational and fun. Getting children hooked on books is actually quite easy – toddlers love sitting and reading picture books.
Experience Communal Living
“Going green” provides unique solutions to parents desiring deeper family interaction amidst a technology obsessed age. Many families are estranged because they rely too heavily on technology to provide a robust social network. Eco-conscious parenting means limiting the amount of technology in the household and limiting its use.
Shedding your extra TVs and computers not only conserves energy, but also reinforces the idea of family as community. You mean share? Yes. Sharing forces people to be efficient and personal. It also makes people less dependent on energy-consuming technologies.
Educate through Example
Many will say, “If I pull the plug, my kid is going to rebel.” Is that statement a reflection on your child or on you?
If you don’t educate your children about the environment and leave them an example to follow, you can’t expect them to be tree-huggers. It isn’t a switch that can be turned on or off; it is a lifestyle. This can be both frustrating and comforting.
Start early. When your child asks why he can’t have the mountain of toys Jonny has, seed your answer with your convictions about the environment. Take your kids outside often, and get them involved in your garden; take on eco-friendly projects that children can sink their teeth into.
The goal of parenting is the same as the goal of gardening: fruitfulness. Ultimately, parents want to know that all of their sweat and toil has produced character in their children. Alternatively, gardeners spend time pruning and weeding in order to maximize the beauty of flowers and productivity of plants. Why not put the two together? Parents who cultivate a green parenting style will not only reduce their energy consumption, but provide the foundation for healthier family interaction.
Good points! I have to say, it’s interesting to hear the shift between this and your more theological writings. The idea of centering your parenting around being “eco-friendly” seems so shallow after some of your comments about the environment not being the central purpose of life!
| Posted 2 years, 8 months agoThat is a good observation – in fact, I wrote this piece for a company as part of my freelance work before asking whether the topic was going to work. My employer wrote back asking for a different twist on “going green”, so I had to write a different piece.
I will continue to stress (as you have so helpfully noted) that the “green” part Green Parenting is a secondary issue. However, this was written with a particular client in mind, so it has this particular emphasis.
Thanks for the comment!
| Posted 2 years, 8 months ago