Earth Day at home
Every April 22nd, Canadians join over 1 billion people in over 175 countries, to celebrate Earth Day. This year marks the 41st anniversary of Earth Day - honouring the planet and all living things that inhabit it. It was in 1990 that Canada first joined in the Earth Day celebrations which have grown into Earth Week and even Earth Month celebrations!
As a Mom of twin, 3 year old boys, this year I'm wondering how I can start promoting the idea of Earth Day at home. With the boys not attending school until the Fall, we don't have the school projects or colouring sheets that will be coming home to discuss, so I'm looking into what's going on in my community and what we can do at home.
One thing we already do at home is recycle - the boys love throwing the cans and bottles into the bins outside. But what we don't talk about is why we recycle or where it goes.
I found some fantastic Canadian made products on BuyCanadianFirst.ca that are made from recycled material, like this:
Both are perfect for school for the boys this coming fall. Something that they would really love to get their hands on is:
It would be great to explain to the boys that by separating and recycling our cans, bottles, glass and paper, we can reuse these items to create fantastic new products.
Another thing we started getting into last year and will focus more on this year is gardening - planting our own seeds and growing our own fruit and vegetables in our own backyard. Last year the boys LOVED digging in the garden, watering everything (until we practically had a pool out there..haha) and running outside everyday to check the growing strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes and pumpkins we had.
I know there are clean-ups happening at the park and a festival happening in nearby London, Ontario, with tree planting, bird box building and more. I'll also be looking into events happening in our area. Check out the Earth Day Canada website to find events happening in your area.
How do you plan on bringing the celebration of Earth Day home?
by Stacey Kazmir
Images courtesy of Buy Canadian First members Eco-Handbags, Recycled.ca, Sprig Toys
