Children Learn Sustainability by Teaching by Example
‘We must be the change we wish to see in the world’ - Mahatma Gandhi
It was a combination of a desire to teach our children by example and the popular Gandhi quote above that inspired my wife and I to lead a greener lifestyle. And it was an organic process that grew out of our previous efforts and family histories. Both being professional educators, environmentalists, and activists, we had already strove toward a variety of green lifestyle choices such as conscious consumerism, rechargeable batteries, in-home water filtration, and worm bin composting to process our food waste. As a professional ecologist, I had worked on organic farms and lived in more environmentally sensitive regions such as Vermont, so I was familiar with what “green” really looked like. And my wife’s family, as 7th Day Adventists and St. Lucians, had a history of very natural and healthy lifestyles doing things like growing their own food and making their own cleaning supplies.
With the birth of our second son, Miles, we had decided that we needed to illustrate to our children the importance of being aware of the impact that one makes on their environment. For our first son, Winston, we used disposable diapers that ended up in a landfill, are often made of bleached paper and plastics, and are ultimately more costly than cloth. We switched to cloth diapers and now Winston is in cloth training pants. We wash our own diapers with a manual washer and dry them outside, cutting down significantly on our usage of electricity. It does take an effort to make the change, but the change is worth it.
So what are some of the other greener paths we decided to take? Well, living in a very foot and bicycle friendly section of Lakewood has helped immensely. We live in an apartment building which is within walking distance of a wide variety of resources, such as Lake Erie, Cleveland Metropark’s Rocky River Reservation, Nature’s Bin natural foods store, YMCA, public transit locations, and many restaurants, bars and shops.
Other green principles we have adopted are: replacing all of our incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents; buying second hand; exchanging goods with others in our community for free (www.freecycle.org); signing up for the excellent local food program CityFresh (www.cityfresh.org); growing vegetables in containers on our porch; purchasing a $5 shut-off valve for our shower so we conserve our water while lathering up; making our own all-natural cleaning supplies, and recycling.
It is a deep and abiding love and spirituality for all things—ourselves, our children, our families, the earth, and beyond that guides our actions. And all of these examples are actively being looked upon and interacted with by little eyes and minds that will be inheriting this world from us.
August/September 2008 Contents