Don’t kill the world, she’s all we have

Taking care of planet Earth is no longer an option but has become an urgent necessity. It’s time to owe up and to take the lead.


We need to take responsibility for polluting and consuming the Earth’s natural resources and need to teach our children not to further deplete its ability to replenish itself and sustain life on earth.

Earth Day and Earth Hour

On April 22, people of all nationalities and backgrounds celebrate Earth Day. The theme in 2015 is: “It’s our turn to lead”. The emphasis is on standing together as individuals and seeking commitments from global leaders, businesses and organisations to help save our planet through meaningful change.

Earth Hour is a global, citizen-driven movement that encourages hundreds of millions of people all over the world to turn off their lights for an hour, at 8.30pm (20:30) on the last Saturday of March. This is a symbolic gesture of concern about the harmful impacts of climate change worldwide.

What you can do

Create a legacy by teaching your children how to help save planet earth. Here are some ideas on what you and your children can do together.

  • Take your whole family to an Earth Day celebration or participate in a community project in your area. Join and support the WWF (
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    ]]>) and vote for action against climate change, the biggest threat humanity has ever faced. Read an Earth Day book such as The Earth Book by Todd Parr to your little ones. The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge by Joanna Cole explains the complex concepts of global warming and climate change.

  • Play in the dark to celebrate Earth Hour and explain the concept of power saving. Take the children outside to do some star gazing or to have a moonlight swim followed by a carbon neutral 100% beeswax candle-lit dinner or picnic.

  • Get physical and take your family on hikes and nature walks or any other Earth Day sporting event. Check out the WWF’s Ride and Run for Nature campaigns and visit www.wildrunner.co.za for more event information.

  • Adopt recycling and re-use as a way of life and help reduce waste and littering. Read Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel to the younger ones. They will love hearing about this green-caped superhero with the power to educate and excite towns about recycling.

  • Make a compost heap and worm farm. Get the children to help and teach them about biodegradability and how nature efficiently recycles its own waste by decomposing and breaking down dead plant and animal material. Read Compost Stew by Mary McKenna Siddals, to them for A to Z instructions on how to make compost.

  • Involve your children in all your gardening activities. Teach them about the scarcity and sanctity of fresh water by designing a water-wise garden with indigenous drought-resistant plants. Emphasise the importance of saving water indoors and outside. Children of all ages will also enjoy creating a container garden or having a little patch of ground where they can plant their own flowers and vegetables. Read The Curious Garden by Peter Brown to them to explain the concept of “going green”.

  • Plant trees or sponsor the planting of trees and use the opportunity to teach your children about air pollution and how trees produce oxygen and cool the air. You can check out the interesting information on The Save our Planet – Plant a Tree website (www.saveourplanet.org.za) or you can sit down as a family and watch their short film, The Story of Stuff. Youngsters will also enjoy hearing the story One Tree by Green Start or The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.

  • Teach your children about renewable energy sources and the power of the sun, wind and water. Build a solar cooker to illustrate harnessing the sun’s heat. Find the instructions at http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/solarcookers.html. Make a wind chime by using tin cans rescued from your recycle bin or just buy a small wind pump from a street vendor and explain how wind power works. Designing and constructing a water feature is an opportunity to talk about water power and water pollution.

  • Take your children to the local zoo, aquarium or botanical gardens to enjoy the animals and natural wonders of planet Earth. This is a good time to speak to your children about pollution and littering and how the stuff we leave behind on our beaches, in our streams, dams, oceans and in nature often trap and kill the animals that live in these environments. Read Olivia’s Birds: Saving the Gulf by Olivia Bouler, an 11-year-old bird lover. Her book and beautiful paintings of birds, inspired by the Gulf oil spill, raised more than $175,000 for the oil spill clean-up. Help your children make some bird feeders to hang in your garden.

These are but a few things you can do to teach your children to appreciate and help save planet Earth.

Sources
Countdown to Earth Day 2015: 100 days until Earth Day 45. Retrieved from: http://www.earthday.org/blog/2015/01/12/countdown-earth-day-2015-%E2%80%93-100-days-until-earth-day-45
Doorley R. 50 Earth Day activities for kids. Retrieved from: http://tinkerlab.com/fifty-earth-day-activities/
Dower, E. Top 10 Earth Day books for children. Retrieved from: http://fun.familyeducation.com/earth-day/going-green/72045.html
Earth Day. Retrieved from: http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/world/earth-day
Earth Day activities for kids. 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/19/earth-day-activities-for-kids_n_1435718.html
Environment: how can you help protect it retrieved from:https://ypte.org.uk/factsheets/environment/introduction