 It is never too early or too late to teach your children to practice eco-friendly habits. The younger that you begin to instill good habits in them, the more likely the habits will be life-long. Some parents think that it is too much because kids are just learning to really grasp some of the most basic skills in life, but this belief couldn't be further from the truth. When kids start understanding the world they live in, they can start learning about protecting the environment, as well.
EnviroCitizen.org suggests you being by teaching them to take shorter showers. This can be made fun for kids by making it a game. What you can try doing is keeping an egg timer in the bathroom and seeing who can get their showers down to three minutes. This also teaches them to clean themselves efficiently. You can also encourage much younger children to have a group bath time together. This gives them time to play together with bath toys, but also cleans more than one child per bath. Just be sure to fill the tub under the halfway mark. It's just enough to get them clean, but not too much water at one time being consumed.
When it comes to bath products, use ones that are eco-friendly. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics recently released a report showing that many popular care products, including shampoos and bubble baths from major manufacturers contain two cancer causing chemicals that are not listed on their labels. These are formaldehyde and 14-Dioxane. Both these chemicals are known carcinogens. Formaldehyde has been linked to skin rashes in sensitive skin and especially that of young children. Clearly, parents who wish to avoid this are turning to green and non-toxic hair care regimens. From shampoo to hair detangler, you can go green by using eco-friendly hair care for your children's delicate hair.
After the bath, show your child how to check to make sure the faucet doesn't leak. This will save thousands of gallons every year. It will also be a good way to teach them to shut off water whenever they can. Children like to feel that they are playing an active role in things.
EnviroCitizen.org has found that engaging your child in your green lifestyle is the best way to not only encourage him/her to be green, but to educate him/her in how or why you do these things. Educate the children of today so that they're good stewards of tomorrow.
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