Tips for teachers, parents and kids on how to live "greener" everyday lives. Contact me at Teachgreen@AOL.com
Hi! Thanks for stopping by. Every month, I will answer your questions on
how to bring environmental studies into the classroom, how to deepen our
environmental awareness and how to live more "green". I'll suggest seasonal
activities that can help our children get closer to nature and give
suggestions on how to encourage them to be loving caretakers of our great
planet earth. I want to encourage our children (and ourselves) to fall in
love with nature. When you love something, you will take care of it.
I look forward to hearing from teachers and parents about environmental projects that you've done that have been successful. E-mail me at teachgreen@aol.com and I'll share with others what you are doing.
Also, I want to hear from Kids! E-mail your poems and stories about nature, ecology and our great Planet Earth, to Teachgreen@aol.com and I will share your feelings with other kids in the Earth Patrol Kids section at the end of this site.
In honor of Valentine's Day, let's fall in LOVE with the earth. It's ourhome. Let's expose our children to the beauty and specialness of everyliving thing on this planet.
And let's talk about garbage... it's everywhere. Especially showing up inplaces it shouldn't be. Garbage is polluting our precious lakes, rivers andoceans. Litter is collecting on the roadsides, sidewalks and forests.Landfills are overflowing. Old cars, tires and appliances are abandoned indeserted areas. All are causing great damage to the eco-system. If we arenot responsible for the pollution, what we are responsible for is its end.Speak out and do something about it!
We CAN make a difference. Recycle your garbage as a way of life. Teach yourchildren that garbage belongs in a can, not on the street, just like at home.And be an example to them. If you see someone dumping, tell them to STOP andexplain why. A rubber tire in a lake affects the plant and fish lifedramatically. Not to mention the chemicals that are dumped intentionally.Activate your friends and community. Adopt a stream or a street and clean itup. Make it a family affair!
Buy products with as little packaging as possible. Buy products made ofnatural fibers. Say NO to disposables. And reuse, reuse, reuse. We forgetthat the garbage that we put out on the side of the road, has to go somewhere.Create less garbage! Don't allow yourself to become numb to the issue. Let's clean up our planetfor our children. We must start now.
There is a great deal of confusion about what some of the "recycling" wordsmean. Here is a list of common terms to aid you in making educated shoppingchoices.
For more information on how reusing, reducing, and recycling CAN change theworld, contact the Environmental Defense Fund at 1-800-684-3322. Or visittheir website at www.edf.org
For more information about what to recycle in your area, call your localDepartment of Sanitation.
1. Toilet paper binoculars: Take two toilet paper rolls and lay them side byside. Tape the tubes together at the center twice around with paper maskingtape. To make the strap, punch one hole in both tubes, at the side and attacha cotton string or ribbon. Decorate.
2. Baby doll canopy bed: You need a shoe box and four sturdy, straight12"sticks. Stand the sticks into each corner of the bottom of the box. Glueor tape to secure. When set, turn over and glue or tape the top of the boxonto the four sticks. When set, turn over box and decorate with ribbons,fabric swatches, paint, cut out magazine pictures, etc. Add baby when done!
3. Collage art: Using old magazines, make collages by ripping small, colorfulpictures. For older children, they may attempt to make a large mural, usingthe small ripped colors as if they were colored tiles.
4. Building with paper logs. Take 30 (more or less) used sheets of paper andcut down the center to make 60 pieces. Roll the used side of one of thepieces around a pencil. Tape or glue the edge. Remove pencil. Repeat untilall the sheets are used. Glue all the logs together to make structures.
5. Cardboard box villages. Using a variety of shapes and sizes of differentkinds of boxes (milk cartons, shoe and cereal boxes) make a village thatrepresents your school or home's neighborhood. Pay special interest in makingthe buildings to scale. You can either cover the boxes with paper, or paintthem.
6. Bee hive. Take hundreds of toilet paper tubes. (I'll use 100 fordescription). Lay 10 tubes, the long sides next to each other. Glue themtogether. To support them while drying, paper clip both ends together.Repeat making rows of ten tubes. After the rows are assembled, lay each rowon top of the other, in the "valley" created by the row below it. (The tubesare not lying directly on top of each other) Glue and paper clip the rowstogether. After all is dry, gently crumble yellow tissue paper and place ineach hole about 1" deep. (Smooth side should be facing out) The tissue papershould fill up the circumference of the hole. This will represent honey. Youcan next make "honeybees" out of paper, clay, pipe cleaners, or whatever comesto mind. Place the honeybees in the hive.
I want to hear from you Kids! E-mail your poems and stories about nature, ecology and our great Planet Earth, to Teachgreen@aol.com and I will share your feelings with other kids in this Earth Patrol Kids section. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
Carol Baxter is a free-lance writer specializing in articles regarding environmental issues, with special interest in how environmental negligence impact on the health of our children, family and the planet. Her articles have appeared nationwide in parenting magazines and newspapers and in environmental publications. In 1989, she founded MY FAVORITE PLANET, INC, a company selling products that have a positive environmental impact, inspire the love of nature, and encourage kids to take care of our planet. She is currently working on the book Teaching the Green which will be an "at your finger-tips" resource guide for educators and parents, that will make accessing environmental educational materials convenient.
She is a co-developer of the Nyack Farmers' Market and presently serves as its Market Manager and Program Coordinator. She is a very involved member of the New York City based Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet and is an active volunteer for the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Rockland County. She is also a 4-H leader. Her club the Hudson River Mermaids, are focused on learning and discovering "how things work" in the natural world and are energetic caretakers of the world around them.
In 1993, she became an ardent activist against the use of rbGH hormones in milk production and was co-founder of the New York City Safe Milk Coalition, which set out to convince the New York City Public School System to join the hundred school districts nationwide to ban rbGH-treated milk in the schools.
Prior to writing, she was a professional dancer in New York City for fifteen years. She currently lives in the Hudson River Valley with her husband and two children. She can be reached at her e-mail address, Teachgreen@AOL.com
© Copyright Carol Baxter 2011
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