School is back in full swing and there are 3 new R’s worth adding to the curriculum… Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Nowadays, children are happy to lead the charge in taking care of the environment and it’s the perfect time to incorporate these practices into your lifestyle too. It’s a great way for your family to save some money while doing your part to save the planet. Here’s how you can help!
Reduce
You can reduce emissions by walking your children to school if you live close by. This gives you all a chance to connect while getting outdoors for some exercise. Or your kids can ride bikes – just be sure to find them a safe route.
Another way to reduce is choosing to buy used children’s books or borrowing from a library. It’s a popular choice and a simple thing you can do that will help you save, not only money, but hundreds of trees.
You can also be more eco-friendly by packing a whole food lunch, meaning unprocessed food that still looks as it did growing in nature, or at least close to it! This is a great way to reduce the amount of packaging and wasted food – and it’s also much healthier.
Reuse
To do your part, make sure your children are using reusable containers and bags. And since so many schools have water filling stations, stainless steel water bottles are a great choice. They’re a much healthier option for your kids and they help reduce excess waste from plastic disposable water bottles. When you do buy new items, make an effort to buy products that are made of recycled materials. The planet and your kids will thank you.
School is back in full swing and there are 3 new R’s worth adding to the curriculum… Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Nowadays, children are happy to lead the charge in taking care of the environment and it’s the perfect time to incorporate these practices into your lifestyle too. It’s a great way for your family to save some money while doing your part to save the planet. Here’s how you can help!
Recycle
Probably the most important of the 3 R’s. Just think of how many products gets inadvertently thrown out or wasted. You can recycle paper, plastic and even electronics. It will allow for the re-use of many useful materials and reduce the production of new items that may not be needed.
Encourage your kids to recycle or compost as much as possible. Many schools have even started recycling programs and gone as far as creating gardens that benefit from the compost made out of bits of unfinished school lunches. To learn more about the benefits of composting and the West 5 Community Garden Compost that our residents contribute to, read our blog “Community Garden Compost”.
No matter what you do to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle be sure to explain to your children WHY you’ve decided to make greener choices. Recycling today is important and teaching the next generation why it’s important to make these decisions will last a lifetime. Life is all about learning.
