Here's My Great Green Idea!

I think the most important way that my family has gone "green" is by learning to "think green." Before we throw anything out, I teach my children to think about how we can recycle it. If we have grocery store or fast-food packaging we wash and reuse it for pet-food dishes or containers, planters to start vegetable seedlings on the windowsill, etc. We think of a second or third use for everything by cleaning it, painting it, restoring it, re-stitching it, etc. The most important "green project" one can do is to teach your children to think creatively about everything we consume! Start when they are young and illustrate to them how they can utilize something rather than throw it away. You may not want this item anymore but do you know someone else who could use it? Can we safely reuse this food container for another purpose? Can we redesign something that you are tired of and claim it for a new purpose? Thinking "out of the box"and creatively not only saves on the pocketbook but helps the environment and the earth as well. The most effective project that we can do as adults is to instill a new sense of responsibility in our children to be "conscious" of how they consume. In my home, we constantly try to remind each other to turn lights off in unused rooms and unplug any unnecessary appliances, etc. If everyone starts with this little effort, we may eventually see big results!