Guardians of the Earth

I have never been one to litter, and not just because it's against the law. It's a life-long habit that was taught to me by my parents and something I have passed on to my son. "Littering is a form of pollution that can have some really bad effects on the environment," I have explained to him since he was old enough to understand. As a result, if, especially when out in public, he can't immediately find a bin in which to discard his trash, he would put it in either his pocket or bag until he is able to properly dispose of it.

That is just one of the many "good" environmental conservation and preservation habits parents can encourage their children to develop, especially with the current state in which the earth has found itself. Teenage Swedish environment activist Greta Thunberg, who is being tipped to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her role in demanding a cleaner and safer environment and condemning world leaders for failing to adequately address climate change, should not be the only young person standing up for the planet on which she lives. Learning about climate change and its effects on the environment and their lives should should not be left solely up to our children's teachers. Parents should be able to provide them with even the basic of facts and discuss ways in which they can do their part, no matter how small, to help in the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change.

My ten-year-old seems to have a passion for turning on lights and TVs and leaving them on even when he leaves the room. And while parents should never try to stifle their children's passion, this is one I've been desperately attempting to totally extinguish.

"Turning off the lights when leaving a room helps to reduce the electricity you use," I have to say about 100 times every single week day, and triple that number on weekends. "Plus, I can't recall you ever paying a light bill," I frequently have to remind him. Taking shorter showers to reduce the amount of water used and the energy it takes to process, move, and heat the water is another thing I've been trying to get him to put into practise every time I see him heading to the bathroom.

Is it just me, or does it seem like everywhere we turn in the house there is a phone, tablet, laptop or video game plugged in, even when they are not in use? We should encourage our children to take the less than a second it would take to unplug their gadgets and devices in the interest of saving energy and money on the electricity bill. The same goes for keeping doors to air-conditioned rooms closed when the units are on, or trying to get them to open the windows and turn on a fan instead.

Being active can be just as good on the environment as it is on the body. Encouraging children to walk or ride their bikes to nearby destinations, providing it is safe to do so, will reap both physical and environmental benefits. "Biking or

walking just one mile a day for a year could save 330 pounds of carbon dioxide—that’s the same as planting four trees and letting them grow for ten years!" an article in National Geographic said. And that's another fun thing we can persuade our children to do for the environment - plant a tree.

Lately, getting #1son to eat vegetables is proving to be an uphill battle. There was a time when he would chomp down his "cukes" as he referred to cucumbers, and ate lettuce with no fuss. Now, it's imperative that I find creative ways to make veggies look and taste good in order to get him to eat even a fraction of his regular daily allowance because, "Livestock such as cows account for some of earth’s heat-trapping gas emissions. Eating more plants cuts down on the need for so much

livestock," National Geographic states, and suggests that getting them to eat locally-grown fruits and veggies that are in season can also help. "This cuts down on the energy used to grow and transport food, which reduces the release of heat-trapping gases."

I recently saw an opportunity in his consistent pleading for me to buy him distressed jeans. I can't see myself spending my hard-earned money on jeans that are torn and ragged when he already has old jeans that, with a little help from a grater and a pair of scissors, can look like they are in the greatest of distress. We took on our little recycling and reuse project and now my boy is as fashionable as they come. I explained that this resulted in one less demand for a new product to be made at a factory, one of the main contributing factors to carbon dioxide emissions. To him one less item did not seem like much, but a view of the bigger picture revealed that he is not the only member of team Guardian of the Earth. Somewhere out there, other children are putting the three Rs into practise.