Teach kids about home energy efficiency
Teaching your kids about energy efficiency can be fun, but also inspires the next generation to look out for our planet in the future. When you teach your children a few simple strategies and give them the knowledge they need to make these habits a part of their life as they grow older, you’re helping to set the foundation for more sustainable living.
Kids are able to understand the process of simple tasks, all the way to more complicated terminology. The key to start small and simple when they are young, and build on that as they grow. Little things we do around the house can make a big impact if we all did these little things.How to get started
Start small.
All kids can learn the small things that even many adults struggle with, and they can take these learnings with them wherever they go. In the early years of your children, start with simple things they impact like turning off things that consume energy when they are done with them. This includes turning off lights in rooms where no one is present.
But also turning off things that are not being used like TVs, radios, tablets, computers, and MP3s. It might be hard for them to understand that rechargeable things like a tablet don’t require electricity to run, but it does require electricity every time you recharge them. The less recharging, the less energy consumed. Consider starting a “Turn Off Jar” which is similar to a more common swear jar where the person that swears puts in money into the jar. If you catch your child leaving a light on, make them pay a penny each time you catch them, or they catch you, leaving a light on.
Add new habits.
As they grow older and understand even more, you can start teaching the importance of keeping the refrigerator door closed, and interior doors closed when the heat or air conditioning is running. Even keeping hot showers to a minimum amount of time, and keeping running a hot bath to a minimum. Once these techniques have become ingrained and mastered into their behavior and routine, you can explore moving onto more complicated things that may require additional explanation such as planting a shade tree near the house to block sun rays in the summer months, to sealing door and windows in winter months to prevent colder air from entering your home. Then on to things like why it’s important to fill the washer and dryer with every clothes load, and to fill the dishwasher to capacity to maximize efficiency and energy use. Then you can move on to things like passive solar energy, and explaining topics like renewable versus non-renewable energies, and how they differ.
Exposing your kids to the importance of conserving energy early, and making it a part of your everyday routine, will help ingrain sustainability habits can pass it down to their kids or the next generation. Who knows, maybe even you – as the parent – will become better in the process. Good luck and please feel free to share your own stories with us about how your family is energy efficient. We’d love to hear them!
