How to encourage your family to GO GREEN!

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Going green isn’t always easy, but making sure the family follow suit can be an even bigger challenge.

Whether it’s recycling, changing your driving style or cutting down on washing, if everyone in the family does a little, it can significantly reduce your carbon footprint.

How to encourage the family to go green

This feature takes a look at some simple ways to turn the whole family into eco-warriors, if you need a bit of help persuading them to go green!

Incentivize

One of the best ways to get the kids’ attention is to give them an incentive. It could be as simple as a sticker chart, an incentive chart or a day out of their choice, but giving them a reason to recycle is bound to be much more effective than simply telling them to.

Separating your household waste into different bins is one of the easiest ways to be green in the home, and color coding your bins will make it easier for the kids to do it too. Once you’ve got the kids used to separating the things they throw away, it should become the norm, and there’ll be no need to incentivize anymore!

Travel tactics

We all know transportation is one of the biggest causes of pollution, so being careful with the way you travel is essential. Of course, it’s not always possible to avoid the rush hour traffic when you’ve got the school run to do, but there are ways to reduce your emissions whilst keeping up a busy lifestyle.

Eco-friendly driving is something which has had a lot of press in recent years, and more and more of us are switching to electric or hybrid cars. Although that’s not always possible for financial reasons, making even small changes to your driving style can make you become a more eco-friendly driver. Gentle braking and acceleration will significantly reduce your emissions, so – if you’ve got kids of learner driver age – teach them to be gentle with the pedals!

Reducing your wash-load

This is one which many moms will be rejoicing over, but it’s also a task which sounds impossible. The energy your washing machine uses to heat up the water isn’t particularly eco-friendly, so tackling your wash load is important.

If you feel like you’ve got a never-ending pile of washing stacking up in front of you, try to work out where it’s all coming from. OK, so you know it’s coming from the kids, but is it always just the dirty clothes making their way into the laundry basket? This is generally more of a problem with teens, but if jeans are being worn once then labelled dirty, you might be able to cut down on the washing in your eco-quest.

Win-win!

Oh and avoid using the dryer. Hang dry your clothes outdoors, on drying racks.

Remember to use your legs!

It’s easy to get used to the convenience of having your own car, but remember there are other ways to travel! Take the time to get out as a family, walking, and remembering why it’s so important to go green in the first place!

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