Mommy Moments
Kids Making a Difference
By Melanie Lewis
It is truly heartwarming to see kids pitching in and learning about how they can be a part of their future through conservation, preservation and environmental efforts. As always the best place to see those lessons taught is in the home in their own lives.
We have a saying around here, “we don’t want to waste anything so we don’t end up living in a crate.” The saying was derived from reading a book called, “The Kids’ Money Book”, by Neale S. Godfrey. In the book there is a cartoon of the main character, Buck, stuck in a crate with a caption, “When opportunity knocks you should take advantage of it”. So we look for opportunities to save money and the environment. Rampant commercialism to buy stuff ultimately puts a toll on the environment either through disposal or in production and transportation. Whenever possible we follow the motto, “why buy new when used will do.” Thrift stores and yards sales are treasure hunting grounds.
Opportunities to save on our utility bill are also helping the environment. My goal is to teach the kids to use less water, gas and electricity. Since I have 2 kids, each one has a special job. There is a save water guru and a turn off lights guru. We talk about turning off lights and appliances when we aren’t using them. The designated guru will be the one to turn off lights if they find them on or turn off an appliance. The water guru is in charge of making sure everyone is using their own glass and not using a new glass for every drink of water. Unfortunately, mom is often the “guru”, but I get occasional surprises of kids in action. We talk about walking or biking places close by and usually make it walking to school which means not oversleeping, even mom! We can also walk to the library, store, post office and playground.
Recycling and trash organization is a big part of our environmental effort. Compost is separated from trash and recyclables to the nth degree. Recycling was always done, but since the town started charging by the bag for trash and no charge for recycling, we’ve become zealot penny-pinchers.
Melanie Lewis is the mother of 2 active young boys. She is married and works part-time as a Silpada representative and a weight loss consultant. She enjoys book club, and playing with her Blue-mitted Ragdoll, Percy and Golden Retriever, Rosie.
She can be reached at melaniewlewis@yahoo.com.