Stop, Drop and Blog

It’s Earth Day. While I’m supposed to be writing about myself this week, the environment and nature as a whole are a huge part of who I am and what I’m passionate about. As such, here are some things I’m thinking about today.

We were out geocaching recently with the boys. We walked through a field that had seen better days. LittleBrother (two-and-a-half years old) yells out, “SOMEBODY LITTERED!” He pointed at the offending piece of trash and looked at me with his big green eyes. He was upset. Then he and BigBrother launched into a Very Important Discussion about litter, trash and why we don’t drop things on the ground. Later that day, as BigBrother finished up his juice with a snack, he looked at the bottom and said, “Mommy, we have to recycle this. It has the recycling sign.”

I’m raising little tree huggers.

I love to be outside. I’ve always loved to be outside. I also love to be outside when it’s clean. I don’t know when I exactly taught my kids the word and concept of litter and littering. It’s just part of what we talk about, what we do. I would suggest not to litter in front of them because they will totally call you out. They have no shame and they are also showing a love of our Earth. I’ve been so pleased that, given the choice since the weather has warmed up, they prefer to be outside.

We got a few new books about the environment this month in preparation for Earth Day. Curious George Plants A Tree is actually my new favorite. While the story is cute, a list of 20 things that kids can do to help keep our Earth safe and clean provides BigBrother with lots of talking points. He has apparently told his preschool teacher that they need to recycle their paper. Our Earth by Anne Rockwell is another book that we’re enjoying. BigBrother really likes the pages about the dessert. And, obviously, we’ll be reading The Lorax tonight.

We’ve done little things over the years to help reduce our impact on the environment. We cloth diapered. We being green versus just buying green. We try. I talk about these things with my kids because it’s important to me. Some of my favorite memories with my family come from times we spent outdoors. I want them to be able to have those memories with their children in the future. More over, I want to make those memories with my grandchildren someday. I hope raising them with an awareness about things like littering, recycling and environmentally responsible choices will make a difference.

Happy Earth Day! We’ll be spending some time outside today. Not littering. Promise.

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Need some ideas on how to celebrate Earth Day? Visit my post at Mom Central Technology for 5 Ways to Use Technology to Celebrate Earth Day!