When you love your children and the Earth, some days disappoint you. You frequently feel like you are failing the world when you spend time with the family and "neglect" the needs of the planet; and you feel like you're failing your family when you focus on the Earth. It is a tough but exceptionally important balance.
The family is looking at you, needing you, demanding your attention -- their needs are tangible, their wants vocalized. So you provide them with the love, time and support that they crave.
But for Mother Earth, her cries go seemingly unnoticed, her needs are neglected and her body scarred by our existence.
But who is to pay the price for our deaf ears and inaction toward her needs? -- our children and their children and so on.
BUT WAIT:
The family is not the enemy -- it is the inspiration.
The enemy is what we DON'T do with our simple daily actions that can unite these seemingly opposing entities.
By making some very simple changes you can benefit Mother Earth and her future guardians.
Things like:
• Taking a walk through the woods with your children (take a shopping bag and gather litter you find along the way. Then dispose of it correctly.)
• Develop a composting area or bin at home and let the kids contribute to it and watch the changes together.
• Recycle EVERYTHING. When you start while they are young, kids think nothing of it. Yet when they see someone else NOT recycling, they call them on it. My kids LOVE to help take things to the local recycling center. (Thank you Hamilton County)
• Walk and bike. It promotes physical activity (which we all need) and reduces energy use. It also allows you great time to connect with one another.
• Discover the wildlife and plants in your backyard together. Encourage photography, sketching writing, journaling, anything that allows your child to absorb the details of their world and then express it with creativity and passion.
• Choose to walk to a local park for fun time instead of driving twenty minutes to an arcade.
• Plant more trees and flowers. This reduces your mowing responsibilities and kids LOVE to dig.
• Reuse EVERYTHING. Find new uses for everything if you can. Challenge yourself and your family to find a use for something before you recycle it. Boxes are great playgrounds, costumes or space ships. Many things can be great material for crafts and art projects.
• Adopt an environmental cause, and as a family, contribute time and energy.
• Ask your kids their opinion. Compare products and activities against an environmental yardstick and then have them make the choice. They're smarter than you think.
• Talk to them. Talk to them about your choices as a parent and environmentalist. Tell them why you refuse to eat meat or won't shop at a particular store. Answer their questions and encourage them to make educated choices about their lives and actions.
• Above all else, listen to them. For what may seem like totally illogical beings, I am amazed by the clarity and brilliance of my children when it comes to making the right decisions.
No one says you have to do all of these at once. By integrating these or other ideas you can involve your whole family. These simple acts will enrich your family time, benefit Mother Earth and help you not feel like you are failing in either path. And in the long run you are developing young guardians that will carry these basic tasks into their adulthood and future families.
It is SO hard to feel like your actions don't matter in the scheme of things and that you will fight those Mother Earth battles "Some Day." But for now, when your energies require a personal touch, simple actions like these can make a big difference. And when the day comes for the big Mother Earth battles, your persistence and creativity will pay off with your family at your side.
The children are the inspiration and the direct beneficiaries of your daily actions. Let them help you make the changes you wish to see in the world. They will love you for it later.
