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How to Encourage Your Children to Live a Green Life

July 18, 2014 | Leave a Comment

green livingGoing green is a family endeavor. It can only be successful if every member of the family takes part and does his best. Children learn by example, no matter how many times you talk to them about doing something, they learn best by seeing you do it. Therefore, it goes without saying that the first step in encouraging your children is to practice being green yourself first.

Have a Go Green meeting

Schedule a family meeting; have it on Saturday or Sunday morning, when everyone is still at home, even any older children. Start the conversation by asking what they think of the environment to determine their awareness and understanding.

Use this conversation to educate them further regarding the environment and the actions they can take to help protect it. Tell them about any green practices you are already a part of.  Tell them of any celebrities they know or like that are also into saving the environment. It’s even better if it’s someone of their own age so they can have a like-minded role model to look up to.

Make a Go Green shortlist

Following your meeting, make a list of all the green practices that the family can participate in. This can include household practices like conservation of electricity, composting of household waste or recycling plastic and paper wastes.

Plan a weekly Go Green challenge that the family will take part in. Make it a fun challenge for everyone to participate. For example, for Week One, have the family participate in energy conservation. It can be lights out by a certain time of night, or having the computer shut down instead of on standby mode overnight. For Week Two, recycle paper and plastic. You can assign certain tasks to each child, if you have more than one child. The older sibling can take care of recycling plastic and paper products and selling them to a recycling factory, and you can assign the younger child to sort through his belongings for scraps of paper he can recycle.

Planting is also a Go Green initiative that children can understand, even the younger ones. Start off by planting herbs that they normally eat. It can be parsley, cress or a mint plant. It must be something they recognize so they will enjoy doing it.

Keep updated on Go Green initiatives

There are more and more accessible green initiatives to take part of. The government has launched the Green Deal Initiative that allows homeowners to recover hundreds of pounds of cash back for energy efficiency improvements.

Homeowners can get as much as £1,000 cash back. Tesla Motors, an American company has successfully manufactured electric cars that are viable for everyday usage. The Model S is a luxury car that happens to be run by electricity and not gas. The company ships the electric cars to the UK. Its supercharger network has reportedly delivered more than 1 GWh of energy to its line of Model S cars. This is equivalent to gas saved amounting to 168,000 gallons and an offset of 4.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, and that’s just for one month – just imagine a whole year!

Brian
Brian

Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

 
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Filed Under: Green Living Tagged With: Green Living, Parenting

How to Shop Secondhand

October 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment

second hand storeDue in part to the rise of the green movement, secondhand shopping has become easier and more popular than ever. Even celebrities are buying secondhand and vintage stuff and are proud of it! When we buy, sell or swap pre-owned items, we are putting the 3 R’s (Reducing, Reusing and Recycling) to good use, for the benefit of ourselves and our planet. Furthermore, when we buy something that is pre-owned, we are reducing the amount of waste normally associated with buying new items, such as boxes, paper tags, plastic packaging and the like.

Why Buy Secondhand?

We know that when we buy secondhand goods, we are going to save ourselves some money. Another compelling reason to buy secondhand items is that no new resources are required to make them. This includes materials and packaging as well as the resources used in the manufacturing process, such as heat and electricity. Also, there is less transportation involved when we buy from a local resale shop or exchange goods with people in our own communities. When new owners can be found for unwanted items, this also prevents these things from from ending up a landfill.

What Can Be Bought Secondhand?

Although some of the more common things to find in a resale shop are children’s clothes and toys, it is also possible to find pre-owned treasures in just about any category. Goodwill stores, for example, not only sell clothing, but also Halloween costumes, furniture, and home decorating items, some of them new. At my local Goodwill store, I have even found holiday wreaths, kitchen towels and candles-all offered at discount prices.

Looking for pre-owned books? There’s a place for that. Going to a gala event or planning a wedding? There are secondhand stores that specialize in couture gowns and wedding dresses. Building a house or remodeling? Look for a store in your area that carries left-over building materials, factory seconds and donated household items. It is amazing what you can find if you know where to look. A friend of mine even found a kitchen sink for her new home..who knew!

Where Can You Buy Second-Hand?

In addition to your local resale and consignment stores, there are some other options available on the Internet. eBay (www.ebay.com) is a site that allows consumers to buy and sell both new and used items. It is a good place to start if you have a specific item in mind and do not want to waste time going from store to store. It is also a great way to track down a hard-to-find toy that your child has been begging for, but has been discontinued in retail stores. While Blues Clues toys may not be the “it” things anymore, try telling that to a child who still loves the show! Been there, done that. And just in case you were wondering, I was able to locate both Steve and Joe dolls on eBay. Need I say more?

Another option is Craigslist (http://craigslist.org/), a free, online community bulletin board where people can buy and sell pre-owned items. Furniture Findex (www.furniturefindex.com) is a website that allows people to list items online that they wish to buy or sell, in this case furniture, and is organized according to zip code.

There are also several websites that allow you to trade with, or donate to, others within the network. One such website is The Freecycle Network (www.freecycle.org), which lists local groups who are interested in swapping with one another. As with any online consumer service, remember to prioritize your own personal security. Set up a neutral meeting place to make an exchange or else make sure someone is with you when you are buying from or selling to a stranger.

Have other green or secondhand shopping tips? We’d love it if you shared them!

Brian
Brian

Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

 
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Filed Under: Shopping Tagged With: Green Living, Secondhand Stores

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Basic Principles Of Good Parenting

Here some basic principles for good parenting:

  1. What You Do Matters: Your kids are watching you. So, be purposeful about what you want to accomplish.
  2. You Can’t be Too Loving: Don’t replace love with material possessions, lowered expectations or leniency.
  3. Be Involved Your Kids Life: Arrange your priorities to focus on what your kid’s needs. Be there mentally and physically.
  4. Adapt Your Parenting: Children grow quickly, so keep pace with your child’s development.
  5. Establish and Set Rules: The rules you set for children will establish the rules they set for themselves later.  Avoid harsh discipline and be consistent.
  6. Explain Your Decisions: What is obvious to you may not be evident to your child. They don’t have the experience you do.
  7. Be Respectful To Your Child: How you treat your child is how they will treat others.  Be polite, respectful and make an effort to pay attention.
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