We can all understand that littering hurts the environment. It’s never a happy site to see plastic bags in a flower bush or bottles on the beach. It’s not just ugly, but it hurts the environment and the animals that live there.

The first step to making our local environment a cleaner and healthier place is to teach our children about the importance of taking care of our waste. For this we just don’t teach the why, but also guide them in how, in practice, we can help our care for our environment.
 

Everyday at Sunshine Home we teach children during Tray Time the importance of caring for the classroom environment and the need to put things away properly. This understanding can be extended to the outside environment too.

When we use something, like a candy bar or a bottle of water, we should put it in its appropriate place. And just like in class, if you see a tray that has been improperly put away by another, you can take the initiative to help put it away, just like throwing away a piece of little you see on the sidewalk.

How can you help you child your child develop the habit of caring for the environment? First and foremost, as a parent, you can lead by example. If your child sees you always disposing trash properly they will want to follow suit. Change begins with the individual.

There’s also a lot of fun way to get your child to take care of the environment. For example, you and your child can take a trip to the beach or a park for a trash cleanup day.

Have a contest to see how many pieces your child can collect. Better yet, invite his friends and their families to join you for lots of fun. You can do the same thing at your home community.

You can also have fun using and reusing your household trash for art. Things you would throw out – like plastic, cans, paper, magazines, string, etc. – can be used to make fun arts and crafts.

Bottles and jars can be reused for fun planting experiments. Overall, reducing and reusing our waste will greatly help protect the environment.

Even though we are just individuals, our personal choices matter even when it comes to something as huge as the environment.

Let’s work together to help teach the next generation how to care for the environment so they and the world around then can grow healthily and happily.