Eco Tips
September
Take An Inventory Of Hazardous Materials In Your Home
This is a good activity to teach young children the dangers of hazardous and poisonous household items. Make sure that fertilizers, household cleaners, paints, and pesticides are labeled correctly and that they are stored safely out of the reach of children and pets. Teach your children the dangers of these items by reviewing the warning labels with them--one good way to help children recognize "dangerous" item is to mark them with a special bright-colored sticker or a "Mr. Yuk" sticker. Your local poison control hotline can provide you with "Mr. Yuk" stickers and materials. Never put leftover hazardous materials in food or beverage containers. Keep the number of your local poison control center near all the phones in your home.
October
Build A Birdhouse For Your Backyard
A simple birdhouse can be constructed out of an old milk carton. After washing the carton out, cut a two-inch hole on one side, stick a short pencil stub under the hole for a perch, and seal the top with waterproof tape. Use a piece of wire or cord to hang the birdhouse on a tree. Not only are you helping wildlife, but you are also reusing materials that otherwise would have gone into the garbage.
November
Use Energy-Saving Light Bulbs in Your House
Have your children help you replace light bulbs in your house with energy efficient ones. An 18-watt compact fluorescent light bulb provides about the same light output as a regular 75-watt incandescent bulb at a fraction of the energy cost. The compact fluorescent bulb will also last up to 13 times longer.
December
Use Rechargeable Batteries
Teach your children how to recharge batteries for their toys. This helps not only to reduce garbage, but also keeps toxic metals such as mercury (found in some batteries) from getting into the environment. Another alternative is to buy batteries with reduced toxic metals.
January
Remember your Good Lunch/Bad Lunch
There are good ways to pack lunch and even better ways to pack lunch. Remind your parents about reusable contatiners so they can be cleaned every day and used again for the next day. This will help REDUCE waste and help our environment. Some suggestions are to use plastic containers, reusable water bottles, purchase the larger sizes of snacks instead of the small snack containers - this will save you money and can be put in smaller, reusable containers. We can all help and make a difference.