How we live
Visualizing local air quality. Air pollution, represented in this picture by a giant grey ball, is invisible and especially nasty for our children's health: asthma, coughing, tiredness, eye irritation and development problems. 93% of the world's children are breathing polluted air (more info about the Parents for Future campaign here). If you hang an old (white) pillow case out of one of your windows, see how long it takes for it to change colour. You could write 'Clean Air For All' on the pillow case to show others what you're doing, then sign the British Lung Foundation's clean air petition. For lots of practical action points, check out Global Action Plan's resources and you can work out your own Air Pollution Footprint here.
Advent of Gratitude. Across December why not observe Advent by thinking of 12 ways to give thanks; to those around you, to those in your community and to the natural world. You could write letters or record short videos for family/friends/neighbours telling them how great they are, take on more chores at home, help someone in your community (hot meal, gardening, an errand - this website will help you), support local community initiatives with your time/money, donate needed items to charity e.g. a food bank or a Christmas Toy Drive, write a poem of thanks to the natural world (trees/clouds/bees/worms) for your bedroom, lend friends your favourite books/toys/games, tell local food producers/retailers or other companies you buy from why their work to look after people and planet is so important to you etc. Pop your commitments up somewhere to remind you. We have a Christmas tree made of pallet planks. Dead easy to make if you can access some wood. NB the ‘12 days of Advent’ actually fall between Christmas Day and the Epiphany but you can celebrate them on alternative days in the lead up to Christmas. For more ideas, see the Christmas page here.
Organize a house swap. During the long summer holidays we did our our first ever house swap with my sister-in-law. She lives in a city and we live in the country near the sea so we had what each other was missing. They spent most of their time in our garden, the woods, walking, at the beach. We hit the city! It was just what we were after and it’s such a great feeling knowing that you're doing the same for someone else, just by lending them your home. On the day of the swap we met half way as we crossed paths to swap keys, and then did the same on our return to swap them back, having lunch, a play and a catch up at the same time. The cousins have cats which was a bonus (and bunk beds - such excitement!) and it meant my sister-in-law didn't have to sort cat sitters. We didn't have to bring toys because there were already plenty and we brought our own towels because it meant less washing for everyone. It was a perfect change of scenery with no price tag. On the way home my 7-year-old asked, "can we borrow a cat next?" It's all about the sharing! We have another house swap lined up in August for a different city. Can't wait.
If you can’t think of anyone to swap with, check out Love Home Swap.
Homemade Christmas decorations. Groan! I know. It’s not for everyone. Although we all like a bit of extra decoration around the house, no? And it keeps the kids busy. These carol singers are a personal favourite because they make the best use of holey children’s socks that I’ve come across so far. So many online resources showing you how to make your own wreaths, Christmas crackers (with silly Did You Knows about the family that are far funnier than the standard cracker jokes and pop some chocs inside instead of pointless plastic), citrus garlands, twig star decorations… Just pick one? And you never need buy wrapping paper again - use scrap cloth Furoshiki-style, or your child’s drawings/old magazines… Then compost or recycle everything after Christmas. No storage required (except for the reusable cloth wraps). For more Christmas ideas, see the Christmas page here.
Ocean pollution. The figures on the number of seabirds and sea creatures maimed or killed by our waste are pretty shocking. But nothing is quite as alarming as seeing your own species trapped in rubbish, especially if its your own child! Paradoxically, this was actually really fun.
Interview a mermaid. Or any sea creature about ocean pollution (plastic, sewage, noise, microfibres – pick your thing!) Make a sea creature out of a wooden spoon or anything else - you want to reuse the spoon so use (double-sided) sellotape rather than glue. Then make a telly out of a cardboard box + bottle and jar lids for knobs. You can use a scrubbing brush as the microphone and a cardboard toothpaste box as a remote (to mute, fast forward, switch channels - this may lead to much hilarity). Read up on an ocean issue with your child and get them to be a news anchor investigating the problem. Video them ‘on the telly’. Great ocean resources here.
Poo as fuel. We're lucky enough to live where you can find dollops of horse poo on quiet roads, and to have a garden for a modest burning session. We dried ours out on newspaper in the sun for 2 weeks, crumbled it up (wear gloves), then had a modest fire. Absolutely no smell. Then you can have a fireside chat about different sources of fuel and how clever it is to use an unavoidable waste material like poo. In fact, poo has many uses…. Toast some marshmallows, of course.
Ocean pollution guessing game. It’s World Oceans Day! Fill the sink with water and tip in some of your (clean) plastic packaging waste. Blindfold your child and get them to guess what it is and then what might it feel like to a turtle, fish or sea bird? Prep your child beforehand, for example: bag = jellyfish, polystyrene pieces = shrimp, bottle top = small crab, snack wrapper = fish, cling film = seaweed. You can write the sea creatures in biro onto packaging commonly found in the sea that is mistaken for food; or cut it into shapes. Watch these videos together - TedEd and Gloop.
Tealights. With a difference! Made from beeswax (so no nasty paraffin fumes) and walnut shells (no waste). Melt the beeswax in a glass jar sitting in a saucepan of boiling water. Tip into a half walnut shell and hold a piece of string in the wax until it starts to harden. Burns beautifully.
Adopt a new habit. To celebrate World Environment Day, make a commitment to do one thing differently, for the better. It's hard to get into new habits so create a visual reminder that you can pop somewhere you’re likely to see every day. Make it look nice to pique your child’s interest. I've picked the Buyerarchy of wants and needs as I don’t always remember to do this. It’s on the wall by my laptop but it could also be stuck to my ipad. A helpful tool for me and my kids to talk through when we want new things. Gotta practise what you preach - this applies to me too!
Cloth napkins. To mop up the kids’ faces, hands, their spillages. We use old muslins mostly, rather than anything disposable. But we have a growing number of old kids t-shirts, leggings, joggers + some old baby vests and bibs, all of which are too stained with paint and food or too torn, to pass on. Unlike the muslins, these napkins get noticed because they are old favourites. Dead easy to sew (double-sided) without a machine.
Bath bombs. You will need bicarbonate of soda, citric acid (I asked my has-everything-for-all-eventualities neighbour for some doorstep sharing), 25g flour (any), 2 tbsp oil (any), 1/4 tsp essential oil + a few drops of food colouring. Flower petals/orange peel to decorate. Top tip: when adding the water at the end, you want quite a crumbly mixture that clumps; too much water will ruin it! Recipe here
Don't Litter poster. Get your child to help you design a don’t litter/ don’t leave your dog poo poster, for your local area. Nothing quite like being chastised by a child to get an adult to think twice. You could use one of the 'scary' facts about litter from here. Talk about why people litter and leave their dog poo behind and what might persuade them to stop; how does the mess make YOU feel. Sign your name and age (or just 'local resident, aged x' if you'd rather be anonymous).
Single use plastics - superheroes or villains? Discuss. Using something just once is wasteful, whatever it's made from, although plastic is particularly problematic in terms of how long it takes to break down and the harm it causes wildlife. But is there a place for some single-use items in daily life if there is no alternative? For example, bottled water is the only safe drinking water in some parts of the world. See if you can find SUPs around your house that you can do without, and make a superhero/villain out of them.
A scrubber. Knit some jute or hemp string together to make your own compostable washing up cloth/ scrubber. Had never occurred to me to knit with string or twine, but that’s Pinterest for you. This is one for older children who can use knitting needles. This discovery has made my day because washing up whatnots made from natural materials aren't cheap. Mine emerged at 10cm x 12cm and I used two different types of string to test them both out. I’m going to keep it flat like a cloth but you could sew it together to make a smaller, chunkier scrubber.
Scavenger hunt. Get your child to pick their favourite bag and to write a list of 10 different types of materials (cotton, metal, wood, paper, plastic (hard), plastic (soft), glass, wool, ceramic, stone) that they have to find in the house. You can also do '5 things made from plants' or '5 different kinds of plastics'. Explain the difference between man-made and natural materials and what biodegradable means. Incentivise with a reward.
Pee in the bath. Grown-ups can do it in the shower and let the kids do it in the bath. Go on, tell them to do it - it's sterile anyway. And here's the bonus; you'll be saving water. Flushing wee away with clean water, which takes energy to clean and then energy to pump back up to your house, has a carbon footprint (and we know that greenhouse gases, including CO2, are trapping heat in the atmosphere and melting the ice...). Explain to your child that it's wasteful. Leaving wee unflushed is also a daytime option for those still working from/ playing at home. You can read here why you and your child will be super heros for valuing water.
Conker washing detergent. I know! Crazy stuff. But it turns out that horse chestnuts (‘conkers’) contain the same soap-like ingredient as soapnuts - saponin. And all you’ve got to do is chop them up (or wrap them in a cloth and hammer them into small pieces - much more fun) and then leave them to steep in hot water. Once strained, you’ve got your detergent (add essential oils for scent). More details here.
Crisp packet bivvy bags. For rough sleepers these waterproof bivvy bags keep sleeping bags dry, which is especially important for keeping warm as the temperature starts to drop. All you need to do is cut open and wash your empty crisp packets then send them off to your nearest Crisp Packet Project (check they still need them) and they will iron them into bivvy sacks. See if anyone else you know might want to join in, then find your nearest group here. You can see how to cut and wash your crisp packets here.
Ethical spending. Create a ‘mini bank’ with your child’s pocket money; this can be as simple as two jars labelled ‘savings’ and ‘current’. Jot down incomings and outgoings in a notepad (like a ‘bank statement’) and talk about the difference between needs and wants, and about saving up for things - a child will value something more if they have had to save up and wait to buy it rather than being gifted it for a birthday/Christmas. And don’t forget that delayed gratification is an all-important life skill! For something more ambitious, you could draw up guidelines together for how money is spent (to mirror how the family as a whole tries to spend ethically) and, for the most part, restrict spending to items that benefit health, community and nature (e.g. limit amount of sweets/ only buy quality or second-hand purchases/ support only small, local businesses and/or only ethical ones).
Tackling e-waste. Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing and nasty problem because TVs/cables/stereos/kettles/toys... leak hazardous substances when dumped in landfill, which can cause a whole range of life-shortening health problems for those living nearby. A fun and easy way to start talking about electrical items is to get a screwdriver out and open up one of your kids electronic toys (or if you don't have any, a torch) and have a peep inside. With the help of this video you can explain what makes up a basic circuit. Demystifying electrical items gives kids, the consumers of the future, the confidence to ask companies about repairability, and ensures they have the expectation that companies should make items repairable. If you can't dismantle something, then it can't be fixed when it breaks. Explain this to your child - that when you buy something electrical, it should be repairable. And if you have something that you want to repair, why not try out the fabulously friendly and free online Fixit Clinic? All you need is a screwdriver! They helped me rescue my head torch with just a screwdriver and a paper clip. I know! It's really not that complicated after all.
The gift of time. How about spending December focusing on what fun ‘gift of time’ presents your child would like from their favourite people in 2021. Fewer presents mean less waste, less clutter and better memories, I say. After they have chosen a few specific physical presents they would like for the Big Unwrap, write some fun activities down on Christmas card cut-outs, hang them up and share copies with friends and family. The 'gift of time' is a gift that goes both ways - for grown-ups and children alike. Cheesy eh? But too true. Young children in particular are the focus of so many physical gifts that are often of limited interest, are outgrown very quickly, many of which aren’t wanted. Here are 40+ free 'gift of time' activity ideas for kids to get you started. If you really want to give something physical, you could put the ‘time’ into a low-waste homemade present instead - a poem, foraged craft ‘kit’, collage cut-outs, origami decorations, a whittled toy. See ‘How we play’ for more ideas. And for more Christmas ideas, see the Christmas page here.
Christmas Trees…. Do you buy a real tree with roots? See if your local council will find a place to plant it out in January. It won’t last long in a pot before it yearns to break free. And trees need tree friends too. It might be worth checking with the council first that they have the people power and space to organise this, before you buy a rooted tree. Alternatively, invest in a quality artificial tree that will last at least one generation. We loosely tied a Christmas ribbon around the top of our beloved tree so we can easily identify it, and plan to visit it to see how it's getting on. The children were keen to give it a cuddle (quite a few actually) before we left. For more Christmas ideas, see the Christmas page here.
Time Capsule. What do we have in our homes today that might not be around in 5, 10, 15 years' time? Explain to your child that shops only sell toys, clothes and food that people buy. If people stop buying them, shops stop selling them. Explain that things were different in the past; look up what ‘shifting baseline syndrome’ is and explain that a new normal is needed. What single-use, low quality, planet-harming items do you think you could stop buying or buy fewer of? You can draw up a list, draw some pictures + include actual items of anything that you don’t want to see again for 5+ years!
Our crazy, disposable ways. For a bit of a chuckle, see if you and your child can invent a new-to-market item that is just so fantastically disposable that it can be thrown out as soon as it's been purchased. Think pre-soiled kitchen towel, a newspaper with yesterday's news, disposable camera with someone else's photos in, a bunch of dead flowers... or a party bag with a burst balloon, a broken toy, empty bubbles, used up felt-tip pen... See here for some inspiration.
Talking about pollution. Kids love burying stuff and so do I. Find worm-shaped items made from different materials and bury them to see whether the worms eat them. Then have a chat about what does and doesn't 'go away' when you dispose of it. You can use ribbon (plastic), string (cotton/hemp/jute), pipe cleaner (plastic + metal), wool (real and synthetic), a worm-shaped piece of paper + a worm-shaped piece of a disposable (plastic) wipe. Make flags (old pillow case) and draw what you’ve buried with a permanent pen; tie to bamboo sticks. Date them. Dig up after 4-6 weeks.
Waste electricals robot. What old devices, cables or appliances are you holding on to that could be usefully recycled for the very valuable metals they contain? Mining for these metals causes a lot of grim soil, water and air pollution, contributing to climate change. We found an MP3 player, a dictaphone, a shuffle (a what?) and endless cables and headphones, amongst other items. Create a funky looking robot then sort out what you could pass on to friends, give to charity, get repaired or recycle. More details about what you can do with your electrical waste and why it’s important, can be found here.
Lotions and potions. Make lip balm, hand or body cream for your little one to feel really grown up (and to learn how easy it is to do it yourself). All you need is shea butter (moisturises), beeswax pastilles (they seal in moisture) - both available online - and a dash of olive oil (herbs/food colouring/biodegradable glitter optional). See here for recipe.
Turn back the clock. And re-set the baseline! So shifting baseline syndrome means we cannot perceive change over time; today’s ‘normal’ is just how it’s always been. The easiest way to get a reality check is to get your child to interview a grandparent, a great uncle, an older neighbour about ye olden days. We got unbelievably lucky and talked to the gentleman who grew up in our house in the 1950s. He was able to tell us that they drank water they collected off the roof, they pooped in a pot (that was then emptied at the bottom of the garden), they had no telly or freezers for ice-cream (shock horror!), weekly baths (hooray!) no washing machine, one coal fire for heating, paraffin lamps for lighting.... An amazing experience.
Photo credit: Pato sin charco
Upcycled coaster. I made this mat from three separate pieces of old fishing/sailing gear that we found on the beach. A handy, visual reminder (we’ve got ours on the kitchen table) of just how many discarded materials are already out there that can be upcycled into something we then don't have to buy. I first soaked the rope in boiling water then used a needle + pink tissue paper-dyed string (my 6 year old loves pink) to ‘sew’ it together. Step-by-step pics here from Caroline Bond (@Kittie Kipper). And check out NetWorks here, who turn old fishing nets into carpets.
Digital litter collage. If you have a child that likes playing with your phone camera, this is a fun one. You could theme your litter collage by location (these are all taken at or around my daughter’s school), colour, type of litter. If you can create a really awesome-looking picture, see if your local paper might use it to run a story about all the single-use items that end up as litter in your area.
Wise old owls... So this company advises that you pop the straw inside the carton when you’ve finished the drink, before you recycle it. Turns out that's bad advice. I put an FOI in with my local council and they advise to separate the two items. It would complicate the recycling process to have to retrieve the straw. These wise owls can now serve to remind us of the importance of challenging corporate claims to be doing good in this world.
Bottom-wipe challenge. Explain to your child that not that long ago, loo paper was a total luxury and many people used bits of newspaper to wipe their bottoms instead. Imagine? Then set up a week-long challenge of documenting how much loo paper you use. Draw a table, pop it on the wall by the loo, and tally how many squares (or plastic wipes) you use each day. Then make some washable cloth wipes (for number ones only if you’re squeamish) out of cut-up towel squares, which work far better on a bottom than plastic wipes because they give you all-important grip. Work out just how much loo paper/wipes you would save if you used a towel square every time you had a widdle.
These work well as face cloths too. Ask your child to help decorate them so you can tell the bottom ones apart from the facial ones.
Visible repairing. Inspired by the ancient Japanese tradition of visible repairing called Kintsugi, I used waterproof and heatproof 'Sugru' clay to fix this broken wine goblet. I’ve also used Sugru to fix broken kids toys and a cracked fridge shelf - it comes in different colours and is safe for children to use. It has a variety of creative and functional uses worth checking out. Repairing stuff, like mending clothes, is super political you know. I bought my Sugru clay with money earned from selling second-hand baby equipment on ebay. Slightly poetic?
Celebrate a community hero. I know you’ll have one in your midst so why not give them a shout out. We chose my 7-year-old’s Scouts (Beavers) leader and entered him into a photo competition with waste charity Hubbub - he is pictured here having mud poured over his head by the Beavers for a charity fundraiser. He has volunteered with the Scout Association for almost 30 years, teaching really important life skills to thousands of children. Why not get your child to do a mini interview with a community hero in their life about their work in the community and then submit it as a story idea to a local newspaper. Or simply give them a shout out on social media.
Write a letter of gratitude. There isn't a more reliable pick-me-up than saying something nice to somebody and meaning it. Can you and your child think of someone you know who is working hard (or was until lockdown) to make things better, for people and for nature? Why not write a letter to them? Thank that person for all that they are trying to achieve and explain how their work has impacted on you (directly or indirectly).
The value of tidying up. We were given a sweet little book by Marie Kondo about two furry friends, one of whom is very untidy. Part of the story is told here - see if your child can guess what happens next (Kiki's house turns into such a mess she can't find the clothes she wants to wear and the toys she wants to play with; in the end her friend Jax shows her how to sort out what she wants to keep, how to organise her things and how to neatly fold clothes). If their things are all organised and easily accessed, your child will soon see what they don’t wear or play with and be more ready to part with them. They’ll be just as happy with less and get more out of what they do have. That’s my experience anyway!
Litter pick up. Litter is an easy introduction to the durability and impact of our waste. Talk about where it's come from (most is dropped, blown from waste depots/bins or flushed down the loo), what its use was (you'll notice that most is avoidable single-use) and how it hurts land animals, birds and sea creatures - just how much you tell your child will depend on their age and sensibilities. Look up Conor the microactivist, for some inspiration. And talk about the concept of Citizen Science and how data is very important because it informs policy. See if you can do a mini survey of litter in your area for an organisation like Keep Scotland Beautiful, Keep Britain Tidy, the Marine Conservation Society, Surfers Against Sewage or the Big Litter Survey. And if you commit to a regular litter pick, contact your council and ask if they will provide you with litter pickers.