Blending a family takes time and effort. Spending time together is the key. Finding activities everyone enjoys can be difficult, use seasonal events such as Earth Day to jump start family time. One of the great things about Earth Day is that while you are busily engaging your family in bonding activities you are also impacting their future positively by taking steps to heal our planet.
Redesign your kitchen to make recycling easy. Enlist the entire family to find out what system would encourage recycling. For example, place three garbage receptacles side by side marked “garbage” “aluminum” and “paper/plastic products”. The idea is to make it easy for your family to recycle. If they have to go in search of the aluminum bin you are more likely to have to dig through your garbage later.
Employ a rotating “Recycle Monitor”. Children love titles. Create a special job that requires them to inspect the trash and recycle bins at regular intervals to re-sort as necessary before it gets buried so deep you’ll need a shovel to recover it. Rotate the job so that everyone has an opportunity to go digging (including adults and older children). Once they do it once or twice, they are more likely to place their used products in the proper receptacle the next time.
Plant trees if your climate indicates it. Every family uses paper and wood products. Even those who recycle diligently impact our environment at some point. Give back by planting trees in and around your community or local forest. Find out which trees are indigenous to your area and where the best place for you to plant them by contacting your local Department of Forestry.
Learn more about composting which benefits both the landfill problem and your own garden. If you don’t have a garden, consider planting one, it makes a fantastic blended family activity!
Look into local Earth Day events. Most communities are offering many opportunities for families to contribute to clean up, conservation and preservation. If you take part in local efforts not only will you help build and maintain relationships within your blended family, you will also bond with your neighbors!
Visit our discussion forum to share Earth Day activity ideas!
