Use every opportunity to model great behavior. Be good stewards of the environment and live by example. For a few small examples, let your children see that you turn off the water while you brush your teeth, make every effort to recycle and never, ever litter.
Talk about the 4 Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle and repair. While you are likely to turn off many children if you do this in a teaching or preaching way, you can narrate your behavior when you model. For example, you could say, “Oh, this plastic is recycable. I’ll stick it in the recycling bin” or “Let’s reuse these paper bags. They have a lot of use left in them” or even, “Let’s see if we can fix this rather than going out and getting a new one.”
Reduce consumerism as a family and be aware of excessive packaging. Buy used products whenever possible and consider participating--or starting--community toy and clothing swaps.
Eat organic food whenever possible and explain why going organic is great for the environment. Explain the benefits of vegetarianism or veganism on the environment as well.
Discuss the effects of actions on the environment and ask questions to facilitate discussion. For example, “Where do you think that water in our bathroom sink comes from? Where do you think it goes? Do you think it could ever run out?” Questions like these can be fun for even the littlest children. Older children can discuss concepts that are more complicated, such as comparisons about the resources necessary to make a pound of beef versus a pound of plant food.
Talk about energy saving efforts and your reasoning behind them. For example, you could say, “I’m going to turn off the car and open the windows while Daddy is in the store to save a little energy” or “I’m going to shut a few lights off to save some energy.” Kids often follow these statements with “Why?” questions that can help the discussion go farther.
Make it fun. Expose children to environmentally friendly organizations, books, websites and groups. These all can be fun ways to get children interested in caring for the environment.