Three Things to Teach your Children About Being Green
Conserving energy goes far beyond your HVAC system. Although your HVAC system consumes a great deal of energy in your home, there are many, many other ways to conserve energy and help keep our environment sustainable for years and generations to come. It’s important to teach our children about this at a young age. The sooner it becomes a habit for them, the easier it will be for them to live a sustainable life as they grow older. Here are three basic things every child should know about being green and conserving energy.
Limit Use of Water
Right now is a great time to teach your children about saving water because of the draught. It’s easy to show them how there is less water in California than there once was and if we don’t use it sparingly, things could get much worse. A simple thing to touch on is how long they shower. Showering consumes a lot of water and the shorter shower they can take, the better. Additionally, teach them to turn faucets off when they aren’t using them.
Turn Lights Off
Teach your children to turn off lights when they leave a room. Make it a rule that if there is no one in a particular room, then the lights need to be off. This is a good habit to get into early on and can save a lot of money over time. The trick to this is following these rules yourself. However, it’s a good time to remind you to save energy in ways you weren’t before.
Reuse or Recycle
As much as possible, get your children in the habit of thinking of other ways things can be used or recycled before they go in the trash can. If it’s clothes, take them to Goodwill. If it’s plastic or aluminum, teach them to recycle them. Ultimately, get them out of the habit of single use items. The more they can find the value of the things they are going to throw away, the easier it will be for them to identify that in the future.
Going green doesn’t have to mean selling everything and living on a commune. Simple changes in your life can help you save money and can teach your kids how to save energy. Not only is this going to help them go green, but it will also help teach them valuable financial lessons.
If you need help figuring out how you can save energy in your home, please give us a call at 800-994-2577.