Considering our environmental impact and moving toward sustainability is something that every modern day aware parent is faced with, but sometimes the task can seem daunting and it can be difficult to tell whether we’re really making a difference.
Finding out what your carbon footprint is can be a great jumping off point. There is a list of 15 carbon calculators here http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-change/stories/the-15-best-carbon-calculators# You’ll find that car travel, air travel, and household power are often the largest contributors to your family’s carbon footprint. You can do things like wash clothes in cold, change your light-bulbs to the new more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, and lower your household heat by 5 degrees.
But there are a few other ideas which don’t appear in many of these calculators that I want to share with you. By living consciously in our relationship to the environment, we can teach kids to consider their impact on the Earth and maybe get them to turn off the water when they’re brushing their teeth or compost their apple cores. Before we know it, these kids will be all grown up and dealing with the biggest environmental challenges humans have ever seen. So let’s do what we can to start them off on the right foot. Continue reading “Moving toward sustainability”