Green Families

Green Families 

The Internet is a wonderful place and a powerful tool for today's society to teach children about the environment. There is no doubt that early influences can spark a lifetime of concern and participation throughout that person's life. 

In today's schools and youth organizations, there are programs dealing with recycling, environmental health, litter awareness, gardening and ecology. Participating at home is possible too through Social Science and Citizen Science projects that are offered through non-profits and educational institutions. For instance one program has volunteers going outside and counting how many of one species there are on a given day in a specific location. This information is valuable to ensuring their data is accurate. 

There are plenty of other things we can do at home that can have an impact on our community - simply by looking at our "waste" as a resource. 

Art classes make use of all kinds of materials that were formally considered waste. Schools, daycare centres, kindergarten, preschool classes and other child and youth related facilities/groups often accept items that they can turn into craft projects. 

You might be surprised at what they gratefully accept. For instance, unwanted rolls of wrapping paper and wallpaper, small boxes, paper bags, buttons, greeting cards, ribbons, fake flowers, broken tiles and many other items can be used as art and craft supplies. Even old magazines and egg cartons make for excellent craft supplies. Tons of examples and video instructions can be found online, showing kids how to turn all of these items into a variety of "bugs". The teacher, then, can turn the afternoon into an educational lesson in ecology and the environment. 

Artists, handymen, mechanics, painters and woodcrafters could utilize both the individual-serving sized yogurt containers, and the larger 500 ml ones for mixing small amounts of glue or paint and for cleaning paintbrushes. They can also use bits of cloth as rags - so be sure to cut up your old towels and shirts for that.

The best place to start is to call up your local school, daycare centre, recreation centre and youth groups to find out what they might be interested in receiving. You may want to also try artist groups or classes. If you happen to know a mechanic or woodworker, ask them what they might find useful. Once you are armed with that information, it is easier to sort out and store your donations in boxes or bags until you can make the trip to drop them off.

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