Climate change is rapidly altering our world, and we all need to be doing our best to be environmentally conscious. This includes teaching children about climate change and how we can save the planet.

• Make recycling fun 
• Show them how amazing the great outdoors is
• Involve them in food changes
• Teach them with fun experiments
• Make energy-saving fun
• Show them different ways to travel 
• Limit the amount of single-use plastic in your house
• Encourage a love of animals 

Make recycling fun 

Recycling helps reduce the pollution caused by waste and reduces the demand for creating new products. Up to 75% of all waste can be recycled, and it’s as easy as separating your rubbish into recyclable and non-recyclable bins. To encourage children to recycle, make the task fun. For example, you could let them decorate the recycling bin using recyclable materials, such as paper. This will help teach them the different recyclable materials, whilst allowing them to be creative. Making recycling less of a chore and more exciting will help children begin to understand what recycling is, how it is done, and why it is important. 

Show them how amazing the great outdoors is

Nature is amazing and something that must be shared with children. Whether you take them on daily walks around the park, explore a nature reserve, or take a trek around a farm, encourage your children to be outside and exploring nature. If you notice that your local streets and parks are polluted with litter, you could take your children litter picking, explaining along the way the damage of litter to the environment. The more environmentally enthused children are, the more likely they will be to protect it. 

Involve them in food changes

From farming animals to throwing away leftovers, food consumption has a considerable impact on the environment. There are several ways that we can reduce the environmental impact of our food consumption including eating less meat, choosing seasonal food options, and growing our own fruit and vegetables. Allow children to explore different food changes with you, and be part of the process from the very beginning. If you are growing your own plants, let your children help plant and maintain the seeds. Create a colour-coded calendar with your children to assess when a certain food is in season. Let them help cook meals on a daily basis. Most importantly, encourage them to have an interest in their food and where it comes from. 

Teach them with fun experiments 

The climate crisis can be difficult to understand, even as an adult. To get children to begin to understand the changing world, and the importance of preventing these changes, you can teach them using fun and interactive experiments. For example, to show them how pollution works fill two cups halfway with water and add dilutant juice, or food colouring, to one cup. You can now show them that adding clean water can not change the coloured water back and that by mixing the coloured water with the clean water you only change the colour of the clear water. This will help better explain how pollution spreads and can open a conversation about the effects of pollution and how it can be limited.

 Make energy-saving fun

We all need to be doing our best to reduce our carbon footprint and save energy. This can be difficult when there are children about, which is why you can encourage them to save energy by making it fun. Encourage your children to switch off lights by making it a part of their nightly routine. Make a competition to see who can save the most energy with an award for the winner. Have an energy-saving evening doing activities that use as little energy as possible. Try and be as inventive and creative as possible to encourage the children to save energy and be environmentally conscious. 

Show them different ways to travel

Car pollution is one of the major causes of global warming, which is why we should be teaching children about alternative ways to travel. Encouraging children to walk is not only great for the environment but is a good way to get them exercising. For longer journeys, consider taking public transport rather than a car, and explain on your journey the environmental benefits of taking public transport. You may also want to explain the advances in electric cars and how they help prevent car pollution. 

Limit the amount of single-use plastic in your house

Single-use plastics include plastic bags, drinks containers, disposable cutlery, and wet wipes, amongst other household items. If you limit children’s exposure to single-use plastics they will be less likely to use them throughout their life. There are many ways to avoid using single-use plastics, such as using bags for life, stocking up on reusable drink bottles, and using bamboo alternatives. Whilst transitioning away from single-use plastics, explain to children the harmful effects plastic has on the environment and why we should be limiting the amount we use. 

Encourage a love of animals 

Animals are an important part of the survival of our planet, which is why we should be encouraging children to care for them. Over 500 species have gone extinct since the 1700s, and we can’t afford to lose any more. It is important that we educate children on the role that animals play in the survival of our planet, and thoroughly explain why they are going extinct and how to stop this. Encouraging a love of animals can be as simple as getting a pet, visiting a farm, or simply watching animal documentaries. We need to protect all the animals inhabiting our planet and conserve their habitats in any way possible. 

At Laundryheap, we are committed to being environmentally conscious, which is why we offer eco-friendly delivery times and use E-bikes. To book your environmentally conscious Laundryheap service, simply head to the Laundryheap website or download the free Laundryheap app.