Eco activities for the family
Being environmentally aware and eco-friendly is necessary to ensure the health of our planet for future generations. Simple things such as shorter showers, using energy efficient light bulbs and turning off the lights when you leave a room are great ways to be more eco-friendly around the home. Encouraging your child to get creative with recycling and eco activities is another great way to inspire their eco-conscious while spending quality time together.
1. Use exercise books made from recycled paper for schoolbooks and get kids to decorate them with old magazines, comics or even last year’s calendar to give them ‘another life’ before going into the recycling bin.
2. Grow an edible garden. Plant miniature fruit trees, a vegetable patch and herbs in the garden that you and your family can maintain together. This is a great way to get children to eat their fruit and vegetables – they’ll be so proud, they’ll ask for more to take in their lunchbox to share with friends!
3. Create a worm farm that you can sustain using plant and food scraps. By creating a dynamic compost heap children can learn about eco-systems and how nature uses waste as food and to regenerate. With minimal interaction, the worms will manage the soil leaving it high in nitrates, which is ideal for potted plants or garden beds so you’ll save money on fertilisers and chemical sprays while reducing the amount of water your garden needs.
4. Create ‘eco gifts’ for special occasions. Use beautifully shaped leaves and ink to create a ‘stamp’ that you decorate over plain recycled wrapping paper. Press flowers in a heavy book to dry and flatten them. Once dried, paste them onto cut-out cardboard to create an ‘eco’ floral card. Everyone loves to receive handmade gifts and children will learn to appreciate that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to give a truly thoughtful present.
5. Use eco-friendly household and personal products. ecostore products are made using natural plant and mineral based ingredients so they’re not only safer for the environment, they’re also healthier for you and your family than conventional products. ecostore products are super concentrated without any ‘bulkers’ or ‘fillers’. A little goes a long way, so they’re kind on your hip pocket as well.
6. Using eco-friendly detergents like ecostore’s Dishwash Liquid to create a bubble blower, which will entertain the kids for hours. Simply curl a wire coat hanger into a loop and dip into ecostore’s Dishwash Liquid mixed with a small amount of water in a plastic container and voila!
7. Save money on expensive toys and stimulate your child’s imagination by encouraging them to use everyday items like egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, dry pasta and craft supplies during playtime. Most children love craft activities and it’ll help them to think laterally about reusing things rather than simply throwing everything out when it may have fulfilled its initial purpose.
By Malcolm Rands
founder and leader
ecostore
