Looking for a fun way to teach your kids the reduce, reuse, and recycle principles?  How about challenging your kids to a Re-Use Contest?!  All you need to do is select reusable or recyclable items.  Arm your kids with paper and pencil, and yell out the first item on the list.  Your kids’ task is to write down as many creative uses for that particular item.  Here are some examples of items and creative uses (in case you need to jump start your kids’ thinking):

• Magazines:  roll them up and stick them in knee-high boots to they will keep their shape.
• Empty Paper-Towel Roll:  Flatten and use as a sheath to store a knife kept in a drawer.
• Small Glass Food Jars: Use to store items such as nails, rubber bands, or thumb tacks.
• Old Shower Curtain:  Keep it in your car’s trunk to line it when carrying messy items such as muddy boots, paint cans, or beach gear.
• Used Coffee Grounds: Spread them over the flower beds of plants such as azaleas or rhododendrons that thrive in acidic soil.
• Plastic Gallon Milk Jug:  Cut off the top just above the handle and use as a scoop for pet food.
• Foam Packing Peanuts:  Use in the bases of potted plants to help with drainage.
• Plastic Mesh Produce Bag: Turn it into a no-scratch scrubber for a dirty pan.  After using it, ball it up and throw it out.
• Plastic Tub:  Rinse out an large yogurt or sour cream container and reuse it to store art supplies or as a travel water dish for pets.

You can let your kids have access to the internet to research even more unique ideas, if you wish.  Evaluate the answers your kids provide and offer fun prizes for the most creative, greatest number of uses listed, or most useful ideas for your house.  Figure out a way to recognize all good efforts!  Then, if you have some of the items on hand, put everyone to work re-using them in a way that works for you.

© YesKidzCan!, 2012

Kids love trees.  Of course they do.  They are great for climbing, hiding behind, swings, clubhouses, and the safety zone for countless childhood games.  And because of the green movement, more and more kids understand that trees should also be loved because of their valuable environmental contributions including oxygen production, cleaning the soil, controlling pollution, fighting soil erosion, not to mention providing shade and coolness.

So in honor of the good fun and environmental good associated with trees, why not rally behind Love a Tree Day!  Here are a few fun things to consider doing:

Recycle:   Recycling is the process of collecting, processing, reusing,and recovering waste paper and remaking it into new products rather than throwing it away.  This process conserves raw materials and energy needed to make new products. Your kids may glaze over at the definition, but they would probably pay closer attention knowing that if each person were to save one sheet of paper a day, then 40,000 trees would be saved each year.   Involve the family in setting up a recycling system that works for you.

Minimize Junk Mail:  Go beyond recycling unwanted mail and get rid of it altogether by canceling catalogs and other junk mail which results in the waste of 150 million trees per year.  You and your kids can stop the mailbox madness by logging on to the Direct Marketing Association’s website and requesting that your name be removed from marketing lists.

Reduce Your Paper Use:  Kids love to be in charge.  Ask them to pick a day and write down every bit of paper you use and throw out.  They will be amazed at how much paper you chew through.  Brainstorm solutions for using less papers such as packing lunches in reusable bags, signing up for online billing, or using cloth napkins.

So this May 16, go out on a limb, branch out, be rooted in your beliefs (sorry!), and be part of Love a Tree Day.  You can hug a tree,  save a tree, or plant a tree.  Or simply sit under the soothing shade of your favorite tree and have a picnic (packed in reusable containers, of course), read the newspaper (remember to put it in the recycle bin when finished), or take a climb and enjoy the lush green view that you are helping to preserve.

© YesKidzCan!, 2012

Earth Day is April 22, and if you are are looking for some fun ways to mark the day, here are a few ideas (with thanks to Family Circle):

• Monkey Around:  Here’s another great documentary from Disneynature called Chimpanzee which chronicles the life of a baby chimp named Oscar.  If you see the film April 20-26, a donation will be made to the Jane Goodall Institute to help chimpanzees and their habitats.
• Pick a Park: From April 21-29, about 150 National Park will offer free admission as part of National Park Week which highlights historic sites, landscapes, and monuments.   Click here to find a location near you.
• Get Your Green On:  There is always an opportunity to volunteer on a green project during National Volunteer Week, April 15-21.  For service ideas near you, visit HandsOnNetwork.

© YesKidzCan!, 2012

Many of you may be familiar with Dr. Jane Goodall, renowned primatologist.  But did you know that she is the inspiring founder of an organization that is dedicated to motivating the youth of today to be the leaders of tomorrow.  Roots & Shoots youth take action all over the world by identifying problems in their communities that effect people, animals, and the environment; implementing service projects and youth-led campaigns; and exchanging ideas online and in person.

The organization’s goal is to create a fun, flexible, and supportive environment where young people and adults can share inspirations, participate in special events and worldwide campaigns, and experience successful results.  Kids from around the world participate in their classrooms, home schools, nature centers, neighborhoods, refugee camps, zoos, scout troops, and more.  Projects can range from helping endangered species to implementing reusable bag campaigns to creating tree nurseries to promoting worldwide peace.  According to Dr. Goodall, the answers to so many global problems are in the meaning behind the organization’s name:  “Roots creep underground and make a firm foundation. Shoots may seem weak, but to reach the light, they can break open brick walls.  Hundreds of thousands of roots & shoots, hundreds of thousands of young people around the world can break through these walls.”

© YesKidzCan!, 2012

If your household is anything like ours, the kids are often the ones who drive our environmentally-friendly behavior.  We’ve done the homework assignment on measuring our carbon footprint.  We’ve waited longer in the carpool line while the kids finish their turn at collecting the schools recyclables.  And, under the kids’ watchful eyes, we’ve gotten much more vigilant at home with our own plastic and paper recycling efforts.

If you would like to expand your green efforts even further, you should know about Green Maven, a comprehensive search engine that helps you find products and services that are environmentally friendly.  You can search out eco-conscious food items, clothing, gift ideas, pet products, restaurants, beauty and health products, travel destinations, and much, much more!  Here’s your chance to turn the tables on your kids and show them a thing or two!  (Or at least show them that they have been good teachers!)

© YesKidzCan!, 2012

Earth Day serves as a needed reminder to be more aware about taking care of our world, being environmentally conscious, and adopting green behaviors.  You and your kids can boost your knowledge by watching some great educational movies and television programming. (Thanks to Family Circle for the great information):

• Born to Be Wild 3D:  An IMAX move about people who rescue and raisie orphaned elephants.
• Planet Earth:  Check out this Discovery Channel serires on different habitats.
• An Inconvenient Truth: For slightly older kids, Al Gore’s film about global warming.
• Oceans: DisneyNature’s extraordinatory visual about the world’s five oceans and the animals that live in them.  

So get some popcorn and snuggle together for some family entertainment.  It’s an easy way to make Earth Day fun and educational.

© YesKidzCan, 2011

Allow us to introduce you to Susan Newmand and Mary Jo Rhodes – two social entrepreneurs passionate about frogs.  Yes, frogs!

They founded an organization called Frogs are Green, a conservation group with the mission of alerting people to the potential extinction of frogs and other amphibians and offering solutions for their survival.

Frogs absorb chemicals into their skin and are extremely sensitive to environmental threats.  We ingest and absorb the same chemicals in our water and other consumer projects, and frogs serve as excellent environmental messengers by showing us potential dangers.  These animals face serious environmental threats from toxins in the environment, climate change, and over collection by the pet, laboratory, and restaurant trade.

To raise funds to support their work, Frogs are Green sells adorable t-shirts, calendars, posters and other resources.  They also offer contests as ways to get children involved.

Frogs are Green offers a fun way for our kids to learn about using business ventures to help solve social problems, and at the same time, learn about the potential threats to an amphibian that is a kid favorite – the green frog.

© YesKidzCan!, 2011

America Recycles Day has been going on since 1997 across America on November 15!  A Keep America Beautiful Program, it is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting recycling programs in the U.S.  Here’s one day where kids, families, neighbors, educators, and community leaders can work together to show what can be accomplished.  You can start with a few fun examples.  Tell your kids that when they recycle 10 cans per week, you save enough energy for 30 hours of TV watching per week!  Or, when they recycle 15 plastic bottles a week, you save enough fiber to make 156 t-shirts per year! Here are some other things to do:

Kids and Family:  Take the America Recycles Day Pledge as a way to start or continue a conversation about recycling.  You can also organize an event with your family or neighbors including a community-wide garage sale; a furniture swap; a magazine donation drive to local hospitals, schools or nursing homes; or turning in toner cartridges, batteries, or computers.

Schools and Community Groups:  Organize a recycling event where kids can take the lead.  Host a waste-free lunch or party with reusable or recyclable items including napkins and silverware. Coordinate a letter-writing campaign to local officials or newspapers encouraging recycling.  Have a poster contest for the best America Recycles Day design.

There are loads more ideas on America Recycles Day website.  You and I may call it recycling.  But our kids will call it fun!

© YesKidzCan!, 2010

 Has your kid ever asked to give you a makeover on a rainy afternoon?  Mine has.  For someone who was called Mary Tyler Moore growing up, the “goth” look truly didn’t cut it on me.  So now when my daughter approaches me with mascara wand in hand, redirection is key!  “Instead of giving mom a makeover,” I say, “why don’t we give the planet a makeover?”

My daughter doesn’t quite know what to make of this gibberish, so she plays along for a moment longer.   I start a conversation (cleverly, I think) about the importance of saving the rainforests.  She seems to understand more about the effects of deforestation than I do.  I don’t care!  The redirection is working!

“Mom, what do you mean by ‘a planet makeover?’” she asks me.  I have her now!  So, I tell her how a company that sells make-up and other beauty products wants to plant one million trees in South America’s Atlantic Rainforest, and we can help.  For just $1.00 (contributed through Avon’s initiative, Hello Green Tomorrow; www.hellogreentomorrow.com) a new tree gets planted.  Hence, Planet Makeover!  We bought “our tree.”  It was a good afternoon.

To be honest, I haven’t avoided future touch-ups and hair-dos at the hands of my daughter.   While my roots may never be the same from the back teasing, the roots we planted that day (both philosophical and actual) were worth it.  And, I didn’t need to leave a tip!

©YesKidzCan!, 2010.