5 Life Skills to Teach Your Children to Help Them Live More Sustainably

Guest post by Anita Ginsburg

Childhood is the best stage of life for learning because kids' minds are like sponges. Kids are also extremely curious and eager to explore new things. As they develop, children of all ages use their physical senses and their mental capabilities to absorb life lessons about the world around them. Eco-conscious parents can teach their kids to live sustainably by helping them to learn and practice age-specific tasks. Here are a few suggestions to help your kids become more sustainability-conscious consumers.

Buy Second-Hand

Many adults enjoy shopping at thrift stores or yard sales. Not only are things a bit cheaper than in traditional stores, but you can also find gorgeous and unique clothes, art, and furniture. Kids enjoy this type of shopping as well because they can spend the typically small amounts of allowance or spending money they have on bargain-priced purchases.

Explain to your children in ways they can understand the benefits of buying used things instead of always purchasing new ones. Show them images of trash clutter in the landfills and oceans and praise them for helping to prevent these problems.

Prolong Usage of Lifestyle Items

Children's attention spans are sometimes short, which often means that they get tired of one toy and want another. They might also feel pressure at school or around the neighborhood to keep up with their friends' toys and hobbies. Encourage your kids to extend the use of items they currently own and put the money that would be spent on replacements in a savings jar or bank account.

As they watch their savings grow, they can learn the value of saving money over time for a major purchase. This habit can translate into an adult model of avoiding self-gratification and saving money for important things.

This will also teach them to take care of the belongings they have, helping to extend the lifespan of those objects. When old, worn-out objects don’t need to be thrown out and replaced, they’re not being sent to a waste center.

Recycle Rather Than Discard

Recycling old toys, books, and clothes can be fun for kids. They may earn a little cash when you take them to local recycling centers to drop off paper, metal, and aluminum products.

You can also explain the value of donating unwanted things to charities or thrift stores to help others without expectation of payment or a reward. This approach instills in kids the desire to do something good that helps others and raises their own awareness about the impact of the throw-away culture that so many of us contribute to.

Look for Resources

There are a lot of things that people can do to help the world and our communities, and people are always coming up with new ideas. Teach your kids to continuously be looking for new resources from those trying to make the world a better place. Whether they want to learn about tips to use at home or they want to learn about legislation being put in place that affects the earth, Sustainability for Life and other resources can be a great help.

These and similar strategies lay the groundwork for helping kids to understand the importance of protecting our planet. They should know that all of us can do our share no matter where we live or how we contribute. Learning to live in ways that promote sustainability for life teaches kids to be responsible, to care about others, and to preserve the environment. Parents who teach their kids basic steps like these can feel good about raising environmentally-aware children who grow into eco-friendly adults.

Anita Ginsburg is a freelance writer from Denver, CO. She studied at Colorado State University, and now writes articles about health, business, family and finance. A mother of two, she enjoys traveling with her family whenever she isn't writing. You can follow her on Twitter @anitaginsburg.