Green Tips for Kids

TuTu Goes Green is a visual and fun way to teach kids about green living and how to be eco-friendly and sustainable. It can seem overwhelming for little ones but small habits can encourage bigger picture thinking and how every little bit count. Here are five tips for kids on things they can do to make earth day every day.

1. Recycle old notebooks.

At the end of a long school year, kids have a variety of notebooks that are no longer needed. These are filled with doodles and notes but instead of throwing them in the garbage make sure they go into the recycling instead. This doesn’t need to stop with just old notebooks, be sure to recycle old papers, notecards, journals, and more. It is much better to put these into recycling to be used for other paper products.

2. Turn off the lights when your leave the room

It’s easy to think you’ll be right back in a room or for kids to run out to a different room out of excitement. Somehow it often becomes much longer than you think or someone becomes distracted and lights are left on longer than intended. Even for a short period of time having lights on in a room you aren’t in, is wasting energy. Remind kids to be environmentally conscious and turn the lights off every time they leave a room to conserve energy.

3. Use reusable bottles

One time use plastic riddles landfills and ends up all over in places like our oceans and affect the wildlife. It’s healthy to stay hydrated but using a reusable water bottle for any type of drink will help keep less plastic in our landfills and oceans. There are also other ways to reduce the amount of plastic for foods and drinks such as reusable silicone bags for snacks and stainless divided containers for lunches.

4. Turn off the water when brushing your teeth

It’s important to turn the water off while you are brushing your teeth. Especially with kids who may take more time to thoroughly brush their teeth. There’s no sense in wasting water when you don’t actually need it. You can take it one step further by using more eco-friendly toothbrushes like bamboo ones that are biodegradable instead of plastic.

5. Use your own reusable tote bags.

Using a tote bag instead of the thin plastic ones at the store has so many advantages. They are reusable which is the biggest bonus by using less plastic. They are also much sturdier, being able to fit more in a single bag without worrying about a tear or rip. Fabric totes are also fun with different colors and sayings, in addition to being easily washed. This makes a canvas tote way better than those bags. Be sure to put them back in your car after shopping so you always have one with you. At the store when buying smaller items that need to be divided, you can even find smaller produce bags.

These little adjustments are easy for kids to do and understand to be green and think more about sustainable living and how they do affect the planet. These are small changes that even younger kids can understand and use to create habits that are for the Earth and their futures. If you’re looking for more ways to teach your kids about living green and more sustainable checkout TuTu' Goes Green or the post on ways to celebrate Earth Day.

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