Sustainable Leaders of The Coming Decade / Agents of Change
In order for the world to exist, we need leaders who believe in sustainability. Our kids are feeling the effects of climate change. Access to the internet is also making them aware of the conditions of different countries. Their choices will affect the future generations to come. The time has now come to raise them to be sustainable. Kids can be best taught to lead by example. Talk to them about the circular economy, and take them to urban forests. Your job is to lead a responsible and sustainable life and teach your kids how to do it.
Here are a few tips that you can follow to help them grow into responsible humans.
Assign responsibilities
You can start with simple tasks that you assign to them like what kind of garbage goes into what bin. Once they know that it is their responsibility to ensure that wet and dry garbage have been thrown separately, they can tell the other members of the family to do the same. Some other tasks that they can be made responsible for are- Ensuring that lights and fans are switched off when they are not in use, making easy cleaning supplies at home using safe ingredients, etc.
Reuse and recycle
Teach them the essence of recycling. It is not necessary that something new is always required. For eg- bags, containers, books, clothes. You can decorate containers to make them more attractive and put them in your house. Explain to your children why recycling is good for the planet. You can upcycle clothes or get them second hand books. You can even build a small kitchen garden by using the wet waste material from your own house.
Read environmental stories with morals
Bedtime stories are something that children really enjoy. They think about it quite often. Not only that, but they also discuss stories with their friends, so read out stories to them that have morals. Some books that can teach children about the environment are:
- The Watcher by Jeanette Winter
- Don’t Let Them Disappear by Chelsea Clinton
- Bee and Me by Alison Jay
- 10 Things I Can Do to Help my World by Melanie Walsh
- The Water Princess by Susan Verde
Compost for a greener future
Create a compost pile at home and teach your kids how to do it. It will look unattractive at first but when you add worms to it, your kids will love seeing it. Believe it or not, kids are attracted to slimy creatures. So, composting won’t be something they won’t enjoy. However, you have to ensure that you do everything in a hygienic manner. The idea is to help them learn how to live a sustainable and healthy life.
Exercise, dance, yoga and play
The header of this tip is pretty much self-explanatory. The only trick here is that you also must follow these things. Children follow examples. So, if you are exercising and dancing, your kids will too.
Choose a cause and volunteer
You can start by picking up a cause that resonates with you and your family. You can ask your children for their opinion as well. Once you figure out a cause, volunteer with your kids to help the cause. It can be anything like helping orphaned children by donating old books and clothes or making food for them, helping out at the animal rescue shelters, helping out non-governmental hospitals or spending time with old people. This will inculcate a sense of responsibility in your kids and will help them know how the world functions. They may ask you some very difficult questions after volunteering sessions so be prepared with your answers. Simplify this world for them but don’t make it horrifying.
Travel sustainably
Travel with your children, and make nature trips frequently. Take them to a nearby forest area or lake or pond. Sit there and talk with them. Take with you some garbage bags and if you see garbage lying around, pick it up and dispose of it. Let your kids see this and help you out. Cycle onto nature trails and talk to them about different trees and plants if you can. Travelling opens a different world of fantasy for them, so never miss out on it.
Little Genius believes in leading by example. The company Revolve Green made t-shirts for Little Genius from plastic bottles. Each t-shirt helps recycle 5 plastic bottles. The eco-friendly pencils given to them are made from recycled newspapers. Our leadership courses for kids also focus on teaching them sustainability, responsibility and goals for a better world. We hope these tips and tricks help you raise sustainable leaders for a better and thriving world.