Earth Day: 15 Things YOU Can Do

Here are 15 thing YOU can do to help the earth this Earth Day!

1) Talk to your children about the importance and EASE of recycling.  If you don’t have a system in your home for recycling, set one up.  If you suspect your neighbors aren’t recycling, have your kids create flyers to distribute to the neighborhood. Include a list of things that can be recycled, what things need to be sorted, where they can get recycling bins if they don’t have them, and phone numbers or web addresses for your towns recycling program.

2)  Take your kids to the store to buy reuseable water bottles.  Take a vow in 2013 to stop using bottled water!  Here is some interesting information about plastic water bottles from National Geographic.

3)  Help your kids create a compost bin in the yard.  Here is some great info about how to get started.

4)  Analyze and discuss your daily trash output.  Weigh your garbage every day for a week, and determine how much your family throws away annually.  Discuss as a family how you can reduce the amount YOU are contributing to the landfills. Here are 29 ideas for reducing waste.

5) Do you buy paper products every.single.time you’re at Target?  Try making your own paper towels.  It’ll save trees AND money.  Here’s a tutorial.

6) Get your kids involved in their local Roots and Shoots organization.  Founded by Jane Goodall, this organization will have your kids participating in activities to improve the Earth, locally!  If you don’t have a local group, start one!

7) Plant a garden.  You’ve heard about the importance of buying local.  Well, you can’t get much more “local” than your own back yard!  Grow enough to eat all Summer and Fall. Learn how to can or freeze your produce, and make your bounty last all Winter, too.

8)  Calculate your family’s carbon footprint here.  Find ways to reduce it.

9)  Watch the previous years Disney Nature movies.  There won’t be a new one this year (sadly!), but the old videos are amazing!  They’re great for teaching environmental compassion.

10) Plant a tree.  If you don’t have anywhere to plant one, donate $1 to plant a tree in the rainforest.

11) Leave your car at home and walk or take the bus.  If you don’t live in a walkable area, plan your errands so you drive half as much.

12) Protect the bees!!  Provide a safe home for them, buy local honey, or evenstart raising your own.

13) Turn off lights when you leave the room.  Take it a step further and put chargers, TV’s, video game consoles, etc. on a power strip, and turn it off when you’re not home.

14) Pick up trash.  Organize a group effort at a local nature center, national park, or city park.

15) Google “Earth Day (and your zip code)” to find out if there are any local activities near you!

We celebrate Earth Day formally on April 22, 2013.  But, remember that Earth Day is every day! 

“We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can’t speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees.” - Qwatsinas (Hereditary Chief Edward Moody), Nuxalk Nation

Science With Bubbles

My girls managed to conduct this experiment, learn, explore, and then continue to conduct their own experiments for nearly an hour!  It’s amazing how one simple experiment can capture the attention of a child!

To do this experiment, fill a cup 3/4 full with water.  Pour a few tablespoons of dish detergent in the cup (blue Dawn works best).  Gently stir.  Now, to make the loop, take a piece of thin, straight wire, and let your child form it into a circle (or square, or triangle, or…)

When your child(ren) are working on the Making Bubbles experiment, be sure to encourage them to try different things with the loop.  Do the bubbles blow differently when they change the shape of the loop?  What about the size of the loop?

What happens when they don’t blow on the thin spread of dish detergent, but make observations of it while it’s in the loop.  Can they see the different colors swirling around?  Do they notice anything particular that happens right before it pops?

Try this:  When the loop has the dishwasher liquid spread thinly within it, have them stick their finger through.  What happens?  Now, have them try dipping their finger in the bubble solution, and then stick it through the loop again.  They’ll be able to stick their finger through the loop without breaking the bubble!

 Fun fact: When the bubble film turns black right before it pops, it’s thinner then the shortest wavelength of visible light!!