Its Never Too Early to Start Teaching Your Kids About Energy Conservation

When it comes to reducing energy use, you should try to include your whole family. While kids may not fully understand the importance of energy reduction, it's important to get them involved when they're young to ensure they grow up with an environmentally-friendly mindset. With that in mind, let's take a look at a few ways you can teach your children eco-friendly values.

Educate your kids. In order to help kids appreciate energy conservation, they have to understand it first. By having a discussion with your child about energy, you'll be able to help them understand where energy and electricity come from. You should consider telling them about your local energy company and explaining how energy is received from the local energy company. Additionally, there are online resources and books to help explain the concept in a fun, easy way.

Plan activities that don't use electricity. Consider dedicating a certain time, whether it be an hour a day or a whole day out of the week, to do activities that don't use electricity or energy. Exploring outdoors is a great way to do this because oftentimes you don't require energy to do stuff outside. Planning these activities can be a great way to bring the whole family together without sitting in front of a screen.

Use energy-efficient transportation. When possible, you should encourage your family to be creative when it comes to transportation. It's important for kids to know that there are other modes of transportation that will help you reduce energy use. With that in mind, you should consider biking or walking when possible.

Keep your children involved. If you're making lifestyle changes to help increase energy savings, share these behaviors with the whole family. Whether it's taking shorter showers or ensuring all the lights are off when you leave a room, the whole family should be participating. Additionally, if you're doing projects around the house, make sure to include your children. By explaining to them what you're working on and how it's going to help you save energy, you'll be helping them further understand the importance of saving energy.

Start a garden together in the early Spring. Not only do gardens naturally help the environment, but they can also instill a sense of responsibility in your children. Additionally, they'll be able to learn about different types of plants and natural resources. You can choose to grow produce, flowers, or even plant some trees. In fact, trees are a great addition to your property. When trees provide shade, reductions in energy use can save up to 2.4 tons of CO2 emissions annually. Also, each tree can absorb about 25 pounds of CO2 from the air each year on their own.

No matter what age your child is, it's never too early to start teaching them how to save energy and minimize their impact on the environment. Whether it's talking to them about your local energy company or growing plants, there are plenty of ways to educate your children about the importance of reducing energy use.