Making Earth Day a Family Day
April 16th, 2008 by Amy Crunchy Domestic Goddess
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Earth Day is less than a week away, on April 22 to be exact. Founded in 1970, Earth Day is a time to promote environmental awareness around the world.
Why not get the whole family involved in celebrating Mother Earth this year? Here are some ideas to get you started. Choose one or two for Earth Day, then select another
couple more to work on in the coming year:
- Plan a meal made only of local foods or make a meat-free meal -
Use this as an opportunity to talk with your kids about where your food comes from and/or why eating a
meatless meal is better for the Earth - Plant a tree, a bush, a garden or even some herbs or flowers in a pot
- Spend some time outside - on a hike, a walk, at the park - enjoying each other's company, appreciating nature, and picking up any garbage you see
- Designate an "Earth Hour" every week where you turn off your lights in the evening for one hour to save electricity
- Encourage your kids to round up some of their toys or clothing they've outgrown and donate them to a local charity
- Visit a local charity or thrift store to see how items you no longer use can benefit others
- Visit a local recycling center to see where all of the bottles, cans, newspapers, etc. go
- Print out an Earth Day coloring/activities book for your children and work on it together
- Take a trip to the library and check out some books related to nature - endangered species, water, plants and flowers, etc. - or books specifically about Earth Day
- Talk with your kids about water consumption and how turning off the
water while brushing teeth helps conserve it. Encourage all family members to take
shorter showers or consider filling up baths with a little
less water. - Change your incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs to conserve energy and encourage the kids to turn off lights/TV when they aren't in use
This is the only Earth we've got, let's show her a li'l love. For more information about Earth Day, visit Earth Day 2008.
Please stop by the Blissfully Domestic forum to discuss your Earth Day plans.
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April 16th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I'd love for you to share a link to this post on my blog (http://www.goodiesformom.com) under my post "Share Your Thoughts for a Greener World". We are having an Earth Day Celebration through 4/22 trying to help bring green to everyday people. This would be a great addition.
Lois
April 17th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Great ideas! We already do some of these, but I will incorporate more.
I must admit I'm a bit freaked about the mercury in twisty bulbs. We've used a few of them, but I am paranoid about the kids knocking over the lamps. Any insight?
April 17th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Great question, Christine.
I wrote a post about CFLs and the mercury concern a little while back on my personal blog - http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com/2008/03/01/green-tip-of-the-week-15-cfls-a-bright-idea/, but here's a link directly from Treehugger that does a great job of explaining it - "Is Mercury from a Broken CFL Dangerous?" - http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/ask_treehugger_14.php . Hopefully this will help you feel better about using them. 
April 18th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
As someone who sells light bulbs for a living, I am less enthusiastic than most about compact fluorescent bulbs. This is due to the fact that the ones currently available contain significant amounts of mercury. If one of these bulbs should break inside of a person’s home, it could cause a challenging disposal situation. It is my belief that the technology should progress to a point at which the mercury levels are low or nonexistent before people changeover their entire homes. Another consideration is that as these bulbs burn out, they will most likely be thrown away as though they are normal rubbish and landfills will have incredibly high levels of mercury in their soil as a result.