My 5 year old son wants to save the world one apple core at a time. I am sure we all often catch ourselves having a chuckle at our son or daughters one-line phrases that you don’t know where they quite came from! Like a 4 year old saying “keep calm nanny” when grandma is in a flap. However hearing my son saying he was going to “plant his apple cores to grow more trees to make more oxygen for us to breathe”, did get me thinking. Surely there are things we can do to help save the world. Surely a few small things can all add up and surely this is a great project to get him and his sister involved in!
So, we set ourselves up on the rug, switched the TV off and had a ‘brain storming’ session on ideas to help our environmental problems. Here are my son’s top 3 tips:
- Mom’s should piggy back their kids to and from school every day!
- Let’s wear the same socks and underwear every day for a week so Mom uses less water!
- Everyone should eat apples and macaroni and cheese to save the cows and food waste!
OK, so perhaps a 5 year olds’ views, though very sweet, aren’t all that practical! So with some further thinking, we came up with a few refinements to the above:
- Families could ride their bikes to and from school, or at least ride them more on the weekend to cut car pollution and it is a great way to keep fit.
- Mom’s and Dad’s can make sure they have a full load of washing and not run the machine half empty to save on energy used and water. My son thought it was a great idea to throw his socks in the tub with him while he is bathing, so that could be an option too!
- Try to co-op shop or going to your local markets for fresh and local food products. If you can, avoid excess food waste each week by cooking unused vegetables into a big soup you can freeze and save for a rainy day. You could follow the “meatless Monday” trend and cut your families red meat intake.
We have tried a few of these things and have found that not only do we feel like we are dong things to help save the world, but we are saving money, feeling healthier and spending more family time together. The best thing is, my son is so happy as he feels he has contributed to something good for our family and our world.
