Welcome to our ‘Going Green’ page. As a charity, we have been thinking about things that we can do to look after our environment, and how we can do these things alongside our children. We want to pass on our care for the environment to the next generation, but also provide opportunities for them to learn in each of the activities that we do with them. Below you will find different ideas for things you can do at home to support this. These ideas will be added to over time. We would love your contributions to this, both with further ideas, as well as photographs to show these things in action.
If you would like to make such a contribution, please click on this link and follow the steps given.
Send in your photos
Switch lights and appliances off when they are not in use, and turn them off at the wall so that they aren’t on standby. Talk about this with your children and encourage them to do the same.
Compost your food waste. If you have a garden, you can buy a compost bin or a wormery. Or you can build your own compost bin using wooden pallets and make your own wormery. If you don’t have your own garden, there are smaller options of these for indoor use. Not only will this help the environment, but it will also be a great learning experience for your children in seeing the process.
Re-use and repurpose items wherever possible before thinking about recycling. That cardboard box that came with the new appliance you ordered – great for a wide range of imaginative play for your children. That pair of tights with a hole in – a great strainer instead of buying cheesecloth. Your favourite jeans with a hole in the bottom or knees – perfect to repurpose and sew it into a new favourite skirt or shorts, or even a draft excluder if you stuff it with other worn clothing. Involve your children in the making and using of these things, as well as ideas for what it could be instead.
Try to buy things without packaging where possible, or in packaging that is reusable or recyclable. You can buy some fruit and vegetables free of packaging in the supermarkets, while other produce can be bought in refillable containers at places such as The Store in Bedford. Children love being involved in this process of refilling, and it’s a great opportunity for learning about weighing.
If you can’t reuse something, recycle it where possible. The council collect many items in their curb-side collections. There are also many recycling points for glass, clothing and batteries. Most supermarkets have a recycling point for many things such as crisp packets, biscuit wrappers, bread bags and toilet roll packaging in the front entrance. Many other places also have recycling points for other items through teracycle. Get your children to help you sort the items for recycling into the correct piles and then take them to the correct recycling point together.
Find your local recycling points
Use less water where possible. Turn the tap off when brushing your teeth. Take short showers instead of baths. Make sure your washing machine is full before using it. It all adds up. You can also get a water butt for your garden, which you can gather water from to water indoor and outdoor plants and even to pour into the toilet bowl to flush it. Talk with your children about using less water and involve them in helping you with this.
Today in the toddler session at Queen’s Park Neighbourhood Centre, we made some bird feeders by threading cheerios onto pipe cleaners, and tying them to the tree with string. This is a great activity for your child’s fine motor and counting skills as well as giving them an opportunity to learn about looking after nature. You could try making these at home. Make sure only thread a few cheerios and to leave some water for the birds too, as cheerios are quite dry.
Try making a bird feeder with an apple, seeds and a stick!
