Waste not, want not is something that can be taught by making compost. I’ve confess I’ve never much cared whether my vegetables are organic or bought at the neighborhood supermarket. I’ve always thought that the term “organic” is just a marketing ploy targeting a particular group of consumers to whom I do not belong. They are worried about pesticide residues; I’m more concerned with taste.

That’s because I’m a foodie. Taste and texture are all-important. I can take up to 15 minutes at the supermarket feeling each avocado on display to make sure I get the ripest, most perfect avocados on offer. To that end, the first time I had access to a patch of land, I became enamored with the idea of growing heirloom vegetables: huge imperfect Brandywine tomatoes cracking open to reveal sweet red flesh and Country Gentleman corn, white as snow and bursting forth with buttery corn flavor.

I pored over seed catalogues and gardening books and then threw myself into the process of gardening. To my delight, my children shared my interest in all things related to dirt, seeds, flowers, and vegetables. There’s something godlike about growing things.

Like James, I decided to make a compost pile. The teens did the heavy labor and dug a deep hole not too close to the house.

This way, the wind wouldn’t waft composting smells and flies into our open windows. The kids took turns schlepping kitchen detritus out to the compost pile, building up layers of vegetable peels, coffee grounds, and dirt.

Here and there, a kid would turn the soil with a shovel. They were fascinated to see and touch the rich results of this experiment: dark, almost black compost you just knew would make a terrific growing medium.

Watching what we’d always thought of as garbage turning into soil made us understand the preciousness of potato peels and egg shells. Even after we moved to an urban apartment and had no land to speak of, throwing vegetable peels away felt like a criminal act.

Composting is a lesson in recycling resources your children (and you) will never forget.

More How-To articles on composting:
Mulch, Rot and Invigorate the Compost Heap (Part 1)
A Half Empty Bin and Some Worms (Part 2)
Make Your Own Vegetable Composter for Under $10

The post Make Greener Teens Through Composting appeared first on Green Prophet.

Dryer lint exists in endless supplies in some households and can be put to good use. Of course hanging your laundry outside is the most green option, but when you can’t we have some solutions for the lint. For years, my mother in-law has complained about the wastefulness of dryer lint, only half in jest. “There must be something a body can do with the stuff! It’s endless!!”

My husband would giggle and agree while I would stifle a serious need to roll my eyes. The two of us would watch for magazine articles that suggested uses for dryer lint. We’d snip out and mail the articles to Mom in-law, back in Chicago. It was an inside joke that somehow bonded the three of us over the miles.

Where I live in Israel, no one in their right mind uses the dryer during the summer months. We have the ultimate clothes dryer: the sun. Drive through any Israeli neighborhood and you are sure to see underwear hanging in many-layered tiers from apartment buildings. The scenic route, my mother calls this, with wry disdain.

I hang laundry outside whenever the weather is nice, crunchy towels, be damned. The kids like to help. They hand me clothespins or hang their little socks and get a nice lesson on harnessing solar power at the same time.

But the rainy season makes drying laundry a daunting proposition during the winter months. I have a portable rack set up in my living room and hang some things there, but must resort to the occasional use of my machine dryer. It’s that, or run out of underwear.

So when I came across this recipe for dryer lint modeling clay, I was thrilled. Not only did I have something funny to share with my mother in-law and husband, but I had a neat way to recycle something no one really thinks of as a commodity (barring my mother in-law).

On balance, it’s good for my kids to see me come up with a creative use for something we would have thrown away.

Make Dryer Lint Modeling Clay

In large saucepan mix 3 cups dryer lint, 2 cups water, 1 cup of flour, and 1/8 teaspoon of vegetable oil.

Stir over medium heat until smooth.
Cool before using.
The modeling clay can be used with soap or candy molds or for free-form modeling fun.
Allow a week of drying time. Items can be painted when dry.

Read more about making greener children:
A Mother’s Voice Can Make Greener Children
Make Greener Children With A Patch of Dirt
Egyptian Kids Find Pollution With Disposable Cameras

The post Turn Dryer Lint Into Modelling Clay appeared first on Green Prophet.

Every so often, the air is so pure you just have to go out and take a walk with your children. It’s not something we plan for, it just happens. We are lured to the outdoors like children that must follow the Pied Piper of Hamlin, even to their own destruction. Of course, the only destruction in this case is housework and homework left undone.

But sometimes, you have to blow it all off. A nature walk with Mom, or in the mom’s case, a nature walk with the kids, on a rare and wonderful day, far outweighs all other tasks. Carpe Diem! Seize the day.

Now I don’t know about you, but I’m all about making the world tangible to my kids. They know that when we pass a lavender bush, we will slide our hands over the branches and the scent will cling to our skin. I will explain that the Romans used lavender to scent their baths and called the plant “lavandarius” from the words “lavanda” (things to be washed) and “lavare” (to wash).

We pass a sprawling patch of mint and we each pick leaves and thoughtfully chaw on the fresh greenery. We see patches of caterpillar eggs that look like foam. But it all depends on the season. And maybe that’s the whole point.

We live in a world where seasonal fruits and vegetables can be bought year round and have lost their seasonal connection. So have we. We’re always busy fulfilling obligations. But we must also stop and smell the flowers, and make sure our children do so, too: if we expect our children to save the planet, they had better come to love it, first.

Whenever the kids and I take a walk, we bring a basket. The kids look for things to gather: acorns, twigs, a beautiful autumn leaf, or a small gray stone that is remarkable by dint of its smoothness. At first, the kids are a bit hesitant about choosing items to put in the basket. I free them by saying, “I’ll hold the basket. You look around for things to gather,” and they begin to hunt in earnest.

When we come home, we are exhilarated and exuberant from fresh air and togetherness. We arrange the items we’ve collected to make an artistic centerpiece that is both touchable and something to speak about for many days to come.

Read more about making green children:
A Mother’s Voice Can Make Greener Children
Make Greener Children With A Patch of Dirt
Egyptian Kids Find Pollution With Disposable Cameras

The post Connect your children to the seasons appeared first on Green Prophet.

I am not by nature a whole-wheat, Earth Mother, organic fabric, cloth diaper kind of person. I love to consume and I have a taste for the good life. I would rather wear designer clothes and own a Lexus than grow my hair long, go barefoot, and attend a love-in. In short, an adult hippie, I am not. Not that I do wear designer clothes or own a Lexus. I’m much too thrifty, and er, middle class for that. After all, I’m the child of parents who lived through the Depression. Even if I could afford that kind of lifestyle, I probably wouldn’t live it: I am cautious to the bone, and conserve wherever and whenever possible.

And that’s where the actual subject matter of this piece comes in, which is supposed to be about teaching kids to be better stewards of their planet. When we leave God’s green earth, we have a responsibility to leave it in the same if not better shape for the next generation. A large part of that is providing our children with the tools to maintain and improve the planet.

That’s the legacy we must leave for our grandchildren.

This isn’t the kind of project you place within a time frame. Preserving our resources must be an ongoing effort. One great way to teach your child about the cycle of life—the chain of events that keep the universe in motion—is to give your child a patch of dirt.

Simple Tasks

Whether you choose to present your child with a small corner of your backyard, a 60 cm. section of earth in your garden bed, or a spot in nature close by your home, give your child the responsibility of overseeing the child-sized location. If your child is very young, this may be as simple a task as noting how seasonal changes affect the area, scattering seeds for birds that may be hungry in winter, or planting seeds just to see what happens.

Through these small burdens of care for a single patch of earth, children assume individual responsibility for the state of our environment. They learn that the care of our universe rests on all of us, no matter whether we’re uptight cautious consumers or long-haired Earth Mother types. The greening of the universe begins with knowing that the earth belongs to everyone.

For more on making greener children, read A Mother’s Voice Can Make Greener Children

Varda Epstein is a content writer and editor for CogniBeat where she writes about the issues that affect not only those with learning difficulties, but their families, too.

Image via playingwithpsp

The post Make Greener Children With A Patch of Dirt appeared first on Green Prophet.

My mother’s voice accompanies me throughout the day, as I go about the act of living my life. Yes. I’ll admit it: I hear voices. If I need half a carrot for a recipe, my mother’s voice tells me to take care to wrap and store the other half in the refrigerator and to take pains too, to make sure I incorporate that half carrot into a future meal plan for my family.

I do that because I hear my mother’s voice instructing me to do so, even though she lives way far away from me in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and I have not lived under her roof in 31 years, since I was 18 years old. Such is the influence of a mother.

And that’s the point of this article: the importance of the values you give over to your children cannot be underestimated. When you show your child how to wash dishes so that the least amounts of soap and water are used, this is a life lesson for your child. (Your voice stays with your child for life. Your daughters and sons will always hear your voice saying, “I didn’t know you owned shares in Mekorot [a water infrastructure company in Israel],” or, “So now you own stock in the soap factory?”’)

The most basic green lessons a mother can teach:

1. Help your child understand that unplugging electric appliances and turning off lights when they are not in use saves energy.

2. Running taps are a no-no. Tell kids not to allow the tap to run as they brush their teeth, water plants, wash the car, or wash the dishes. Every bit of water that goes down the drain is gone for good. Teach children to plan water usage and to remain alert when using water sources.

3. Grow a garden with your child. If you live in a high rise, plant a container herb garden. Understanding the process of growing things helps children understand the preciousness of resources and the effects of global warming.

4. Teach children how to recycle items from an early age.

The post 4 steps to green your children appeared first on Green Prophet.