Tips on Growing a Green Family

Going green isn't just trendy these days; it's a necessity, given how our world's resources are continuing to diminish at an alarming rate and the economy is plummetting right along with the resources.

So how do you get your kids on board?

I find that teaching kids to value the envirnoment and reduce, reuse, recycle isn't hard. Kids are into learning new things, and they aren't set in their ways and jaded as many adults seem to be. So they get inspired easily when you tell them doing something small can help save the Earth.

Plus, most schools today (God bless them) instill in kids frequently the value of conservation. And when you're 7 or 8 and you hear a message at school, it's the law in your little mind.

Here are some ways I've tried to instill the idea of going green in my kids:

Fine them for violations: If they leave the light or the TV on after they've left the room, they must put 25 cents of their own money in a jar. After we started this, it took about a week of fines, and the kids started to remember to turn off the lights and TV. (Now they catch me on occasion, and I have to ante up. They love that.)

Explain things: Kids love to be part of the conversation. Don't talk in hushed voices about using less energy or eating locally grown vegetables and fruits, instead of those trucked or flown in. Talk to your kids about it. If yours are like mine, ages 8 and 6, they'll remind you to make the green choice because let's face it: Kids love to nag mom and dad.

Make it part of their job: One of my son's duties is to remind me to bring the reusable bags into the grocery store when we go shopping. It's his job, so he takes ownership and learns a valuable less about conservation. (If you shop at a co-op, why stop at reusable bags; enlist your kids to remember to bring empty egg cartons, oatmeal containers or jars for lotions as Mindful Momma suggests)

Buy your kids reusable water bottles: This sounds like a small thing, but it's really valuable for two reasons. Kids love to get to pick out their own water bottle; it cuts down on the estimated 22 million water bottles that end up in landfills. Crunchy Domestic Goddess offers some tips on how to pick a good bottle.

Ask for their ideas: Kids love to offer advice because they seldom get asked to do it. So challenge your children to come up with ways to reuse paper, cardboard boxes, old oatmeal or milk containers. They will learn to use the back of an old homework sheet for coloring, and you'll end up with some creative art projects to decorate your home.

Connect with other green families: It's always easier to teach your kids something if their friends are doing it, too. So join co-ops or parenting groups in your community that espouse green values to help you meet like-minded parents, who are trying to bring up like-minded kids. To connect with parents online, try joining a social-networking group of green parents, such as The Green Parent.