Eco-curious, eco-conscious, but not eco-anxious…

I used to be more strict about my environmental beliefs. The arrival of my children put several things into perspective, I learned to put water (sometimes more, sometimes less!) in my wine! You choose your battles as they say!

The fact is that it has always remained very present in my daily life, even if it is more flexible now. I want my children to grow up with a concern to make a difference, even on their very small scale . I want our family choices to be in line with our green values .

But how do we talk to children about the environment?

How do we explain to them about polluted oceans, endangered species, natural disasters due to climate change, deforestation... without making them fear for the future? More and more young people say that their anxiety about environmental conditions is great .

How can we raise awareness without being too alarmist for our little ones?

How to preserve childhood while talking about eco-responsibility?

Wow! Not a bad challenge, I would say! In this article, I will try to answer these questions by showing you how we try to make our children aware of the importance of making eco-responsible choices on a daily basis . Our green journey is not perfect! We are moving forward in small steps. We make discoveries and we learn… a little every day! We learn a lot. As we read, we become a tribe that is always a little greener!

Curiosity to begin with!

Before telling my children that it is important to do this or that for the environment, I wanted them to see the beauty of nature . I wanted to cultivate their curiosity for everything around them .

My children love animals very much. Like all children! We read several books, documentaries especially, to learn more about the lives of animals : their habitat, their diet, their predators. This led my boys to understand that it is important to respect the forest and the trees . We explored the collection Les petits déségoants by Élise Gravel to learn about the small animals that “spoke” less to my tribe. They loved it! They saw that each species is important even if the animal is “disgusting”!

We continued with documentaries on plants and insects . Yes, yes, we read quite a bit! And when we're not reading, the children leaf through and look at the pictures (I'll leave you some reading suggestions at the end of the article!).

We spent a lot of time outside watching birds*, plants, trees . We did nature walk-style treasure hunts . We filled pages in our Nature Journals . We watched tulips and buds slowly emerge.

We grew herbs and vegetables . We took seedlings, but also mango and avocado pits, lemon seeds, a piece of ginger, a pineapple top. I wanted them to see where what we eat comes from . How long it is to wait to harvest a tomato and how important it is not to waste food. Now, as soon as we make guacamole, the children ask me to grow a plant!

We have laying hens that the children love very much! We explain to them that they must be taken care of since they give us food.

I was thinking that it was impossible to show my children that the environment is important if they don't know about it . If we never spend time there. We also read Greta and the Giants . They found a little girl (Greta Thunberg!) who opposes giants who are destroying the forest. My children understood that even if we are small, together, we can make big changes . The goal is achieved! Yeah!

Explain why, but not too much.

When I am asked to do something, I like to know why. That is why when I ask my children to do something and they ask me why, I do not just answer "because that's how it is!"

On the other hand, I don't go into great detail about explanations. For example:

• We do not let the tap water run when we brush our teeth to avoid wasting water.
• We use reusable water bottles, reusable containers and cloth bags to avoid throwing away items every time. This creates less waste.
• We take our vegetable and fruit bags to the grocery store to avoid bringing unnecessary plastic home.

That's all.

They don't need to know the rest for now. For us, the more elaborate explanations will come later.

Also, we are also starting to use food waste . You know, those parts of vegetables that we usually throw away (ideally it would be in the compost or for the chickens!). Before throwing away a piece of vegetable or fruit, we ask ourselves if it could not have a second life. That's when I discovered Chic frigo sans fric and Florence-Léa Siry. I like the author's optimistic approach that encourages us to adopt changes without making us feel guilty.

This summer, I want to start picking wild plants with the kids. I found in the book Forest that several plants on our land are edible. By identifying them and cooking them, I will be able to show the kids that nature offers us food everywhere without us even realizing it sometimes ! Isn't it amazing?! All the more reason to take care of it!

Raise awareness without making people feel guilty

I want my children to be proud of the small things they do . That these things become automatic and that in their daily lives, they make thoughtful actions that will have an impact, however small, on the environment.

I don't want them to be in a constant state of stress and anger because they can't control everything . One small step at a time while striving to be a better person day by day. Continuous improvement!

As a family, we can also look for alternatives that could be implemented to improve ourselves . Children will surely have plenty of ideas to make your daily life more eco-responsible. The idea is to see if each alternative is viable in your reality. Often, choices that come from us are more motivating!

We will not create change by being negative. We must remain hopeful and see what can be done. One small step at a time!

My reading suggestions for children:

• The Bugs , Pamela Hickman and Carolyn Gavin (2019)
• The Trees , Pamela Hickman and Carolyn Gavin (2019)
• All About Poop (and Other Animal Traces) , Andy Seed (2019)
• Earth in Blue: Life in Our Oceans and Rivers , Moira Butterfield (2019)
• Green Earth: Life in Our Woods and Forests , Moira Butterfield (2019)
• We Are Here , Oliver Jeffreys (2018)
• All the books in the series The Disgusting Little Ones , Élise Gravel
• The Wonders of Nature , Amanda Wood and Mike Jolley (2016)
• Greta vs. the Giants , Zoe Tucker and Zoe Persico (2020)
• The Stinking Tribe , Élise Gravel (2017)

My reading suggestions for parents:

• Florence-Léa Siry's books
• Marie Cochard's books
• Forest: identify, harvest and cook , Ariane Paré-Le Gal

* Québec Oiseaux offers a great resource for bird watching. My kids love it!

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