March 03

I think the examples listed are great. I have found that the going through an Ecological Footprint assessment (http://www.wrwcanada.com/09ecofootprint.htm and http://www.earthday.org/Footprint/index.asp) helps children understand how important it is to make the choices you all referred to. I don't have any kids of my own but this is usually a good way to get positive dialogue started. I find the earthday assessment the most useful because they relate an individual footprint to how much of the earth we would need if we all had the same footprint.

These are all critical, important points others have made. Don't forget to make it FUN as often as possible! Hell, I even sometimes feel uninspired talking about, thinking of, and advocating for sustainable development issues everyday. Children (as well as adults) need as much FUN in their lives as possible... incorporating FUN with SUSTAINABLE LIVING is the best way to ensure those brilliant young minds are taking it all in. And keeping it in. And using it.

Good question. We are actively participating in this question with our 2 kids. I think its important that kids grow up seeing that living locally and with a small footprint is normal and easy to do. What have we done?

• - got rid of the TV (we do have a DVD player videos and PC, its the commercials we want to avoid)
• - got rid of the car (parents cycle/transit to work and kids walk to school, this is the norm in our family)
• - join car coop (we're not trying to be luddites, it just means that we carefully plan our vehicle use, and the kids see that cars are used for deliberate activities such as shopping, going to special activites like skiing, etc, and perhaps most important kids don't grow up with the vehicle used to define one's personality... "its just a car". )
• - choose activities for kids which are close to home (yes this limits the kids choices, but isn't making the most of your choices a part of life? and in a city there really is more than you think near by)
• - grow a garden in the back yard (obvious connection to one's food source, try to get kids to participate in some part of it)

Does this succeed in teaching kids sustainability ?

 I don't know. It's still a work in progress :-)

After I filled up our SUV my 5 year old daughter asked: "Where does gas come from Daddy?"

I said: "Millions of years ago the dinosaurs died and lay down and they got covered in dirt and after a long time with lots of pressure they turned into oil. So we drill deep holes and pump the oil out and pipe it to big factories where it is made into dinosaur fuel. From there, its piped to big tanks like the ones near where your cousin lives. Then it is put in big trucks and delivered to underground tanks at the gas station. These tanks sometimes leak and the gas gets into the soil and the water. We then pump the gas out of the big tank into the SUV so we can drive around."

"Did I mention we need to be careful because the gas fumes can explode if you have a match near it?"

"Oh, and when we burn the gas it pollutes the air we breath and causes the earth to get hotter." 

She interupted:"Daddy, that's not a good idea!"

I asked her what ideas she had. She said: "We should use the sun and maybe tree sap."

A few months later we sold the SUV and our sports car and bought an annual transit pass and a hybrid vehicle!

Having been an adventure guide and a teacher I always get a thrill from seeing the way people (especially kids) react in a natural setting. This could be a park or a forest or the remote wilderness. An appreciation of these things can most effectively be brought on by having a hands-on experience with nature. I think people can only really appreciate the need for sustainability by understanding and appreciating the natural world.

I think we all agree that children start life with a natural desire to be involved in world around them. Leading by example is one of the most important things that parents, friends and relatives can do to help shape their belief system and instil a sense of stewardship and responsibility for what nature. While we are all human and may not allways take the time to " do the right thing "I believe as another writer indicated that encouraging creativity and dialogue will help childern to develop a sense of personal value and healthy dose of self esteem. Reinforcing the need to look after your own back yard is a great place to start. As a youngster growing up in East Van my father used to get me to cleanup around the neibourhood every weekend. While maybe not every weekend but enough that I still make it a habit to walk around the park and up and down the street cleaning up what mess someone esle left behind.I was pleasently pleased last weekend when I saw another neighbour cleanup in fornt of theer place. We have a fish painted by local school childre by our storm drain and I'm happy to say the practice of dumping car oil down there has ceased. Education of those young and old is the key. Who say's you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Treat them with respect and respect the earth

Children are both open to new ideas and little mimics of the world around them. Encouraging them to ask the inspiring questions about the world around them as they experience it is important. Equally important is to provide day to day experiences for them that are sustainable - how we eat, shop, travel and house ourselves comprise the basic components of our personal footprint and no amount of blue-boxing or worm-composting can override the 24/7 reality of how we each live - and the message that sends to our little ones.

Most children are a lot more daring and inquisitive than the adults in their lives. Likely, the best thing we can do is allow children to take action. All too often the adult ends up demonstrating to the child that sustainability is too much work.

When they come home from school asking "How come we don't have a worm composter?" They are knowledgeable and willing. We have to avoid responding with,
"because it takes to much time," "it takes too much work," or "it is too dirty."

I am not saying that we have to follow through with every, but the initiative from the child should not be quashed. Striving to maintain their inclination that anything is possible is the best thing we can do to SUSTAIN their idealism.

Young children learn by example, they model behaviour that they have seen for themselves. Until they have life experience to draw from they are not capable of reasoning out information to make their own decisions as to their actions. We must model sustainability through our own behaviour, using minimal water for the task at hand, using people power to get to where you are going instead of horse power (cars), even if only in a pot, show how plants grow (food), that it doesn't just appear on a grocery store shelf, but sweat equity has gone into the growth of all our food, that it takes resources to grow food, water, soil, time.