Summer Fun With An Environmental Focus

With so many choices for summertime fun, consider going green with an eco-friendly focus. Although you cannot ensure a green summer for the entire planet, each person’s contribution will reduce at least a little of the carbon footprint in our world.

Creative kid fun with an environmental awareness angle:

1. Create an organic garden and learn how to compost. It’s easy. Backyard gardening teaches kids about eating healthy and self-reliance.


2. Encourage your child to volunteer for a week this summer with a local group. For example, help plant trees in the neighborhood with an organization like the National Arbor Day Foundation.


3. Growing Green Family offers ideas about where to send your kids to a nature camp for a week or even day camps. Local recreation centers provide all sorts of eco-conscious nature friendly programs for children.


4. Set up a bird feeder in the yard with the children helping to keep the feeder full for the local birds. As the birds enjoy your yard, tell your children about the various birds who live in the area as well as bird migration.


5. A picnic in the park is always a fun time outdoors, forget about the wicker and plastic, use old plates and cloth napkins. Pack organic foods, sit on the ground, and teach your child about the earth and Mother Nature.

For adult fun at home!

1. The Low Impact Living website, suggests “Don't Be an Enviro-Hog at the BBQ.” For summer barbeques cut down on waste by putting out two trashcans, one for food scraps and one for recycled items. Use those leftover veggies and salads to make healthy compost mulch for the garden.


2. Save water this summer by taking a shorter shower, and replacing that water-guzzling showerhead with one that spews less. Save as much as 20,000 gallons a year by making those two simple adjustments to your showering habits. When watering your yard this summer, do it only in the early morning when the sun and evaporation are lower, and adjust your sprinklers to water your yard, not the driveway or street.


3. If you’re listening to music while you’re at the beach or the pool, download your favorite songs rather than buying an entire CD. Instead of paying $12 and upwards for the entire compact disc, surf the internet and find the songs you like. It’s cheaper, and it saves the landfills a lot of outdated music.


4. Support your local farmers by buying and eating locally grown fresh veggies and fruits. You’ll taste the freshness and even better, you’ll know your food didn’t waste gas by make that cross-country road trip. Visit Local Harvest, input your zip code, and find the freshest food in your area.


5. Figure out how your carbon footprint affects your small part of the planet, after all, it is a job we are all responsible for doing. If you do not know what a carbon footprint means, or how yours affects everyone else on the planet, visit Carbon Fund to calculate your personal footprint. According to the website, the average American’s total carbon footprint is 50,000 pounds a year including emissions from home, car, air travel, and everything else. You can also make a donation at the website to fund efforts toward renewable energy.

Planning a summertime trip?

1. Save paper, research your summer travel plans online, print just the information and maps you’ll need. With the amount of ink required in printing maps, it is not as easy to recycle them, and if you buy a map, recycle it by using it for wrapping paper. 


2. Book airline reservation online and print your boarding pass at home, which enables the usage of plain copy paper versus the thicker paper airlines use.


3. Take time to consider what to pack, airlines charge for bags, and packing a “carry on” instead of a larger bag, just makes sense. Packing lighter also helps Mother Earth because an extra 10 pounds per passenger equals an additional 350 million gallons of jet fuel per year.


4. Save money spent on film by taking a digital camera that allows the user to take several more photos, and eliminate the hazardous chemicals required to process film.


5. Green lodging is available and green definitely means comfort these days when it comes to hotels. From urban retreats to luxury resorts all do their part in consideration of their carbon footprint, from recycling to thermostat control to growing local gardens. For a list of green hotels visit, www.EnvironmentallyFriendlyHotels.com

Sources:

www.lowimpactliving.com  
www.environmentteam.com
www.growinggreenfamily.com