Can one family save the world?
Well, perhaps not in its entirety (let us know if you have any grand ideas), but together, you can still make a difference to the part of the world you are living in. And who knows? Perhaps your good example will lead to other families doing more to make a difference too, so what you do could have far-reaching consequences!
Here are some ideas we hope you find useful.
#1: Clean up the neighborhood
If you have already won the battle of tidying up at home, you might then have the opportunity to encourage your family to do more in the community too. You could join any litter picking groups that already clean up the parks, beaches, and streets around you, or you could start your own group as a family. When you’re walking to and from school with your kids, you could encourage them to pick up any litter too.
Whenever you are on a family walk, you could stop to put bits of plastic, etc. safely in the trash. Of course, safety is key. You shouldn’t instruct your children to pick up anything that is unsafe. And you should always encourage them to wear gloves when picking up litter. But by getting them into the habit of litter picking (and not dropping litter themselves), you will be doing much to reduce the problem of waste that is hurting your local environment.
#2: Be less reliant on your car
The more cars there are on the road, the greater the amount of air pollution that our towns and cities are suffering from. So, if you could find ways to reduce your need to drive, you would be doing much to protect the planet. Rather than using your car for the school runs, you could walk the kids to school, cycle with them, or find another mom who is willing to carpool.
Instead of driving to the supermarket to do your family shopping, you could do the sustainable thing, and use the shops local to you instead. It might be that you consider ditching your car too, especially if you have no real need for it. You could then hire a car from services such as Ace Rent A Car every time you needed to travel a long distance, and in the meantime, enjoy with your family the health and world-saving benefits of walking or cycling instead.
#3: Commit to better habits at home
Set a few world-saving rules at home, and get your children into better habits. As examples, you might include:
- Save water by taking shorter showers.
- Conserve energy by turning off the lights in unused rooms.
- Put plastic waste in the recycling bin.
These are just a few examples, but you can probably think of more.
#4: Spend more time in the garden
By spending more time together in the garden, perhaps by playing games, you will have the opportunity to conserve the electricity that would usually be used when watching the TV and playing video games. By planting your own veggies together, there would be less need for you to use your car for shopping, and less need for other transport to deliver groceries to you. (You might even encourage your children to finally eat their greens too). And by tending to the plant life in your garden together and by caring for the wildlife in the garden, you will be teaching your children valuable lessons about the environment that should stick with them for a lifetime.
Finally
There are all kinds of other ways your family can save the world – check out this list – so have a read, follow our suggestions, and together do your bit to make a difference. Not only will your family benefit if you do, but further generations will also benefit from the efforts you have all put in.
