PunditGirl’s school is great at raising the awareness of little kids when it comes to protecting the environment. They pick up trash around the neighborhood, they have a Reduce, Reuse, Recycle program.
But when a seven-year-old moves from baths to showers, how do you convince her that her little 50 pound frame doesn’t need to spend 30 minutes under the shower? Or to turn off the faucet while brushing her teeth? Or turning off the lights when she leaves her bedroom?
Is this too frivolous a topic for Blog Action Day?
I don’t think so. Because for me it’s just one example of how we can connect our everyday lives to protecting the environment in a way our kids can understand. Protecting the environment is a pretty abstract concept for a seven-year-old.
Greenhouse gases and An Inconvenient Truth – I’d venture to say those are a little too complicated and scary for most kids.
But if I can find a way to connect things in a second-grader’s life that she views as important, those are things I can build on to make her a “greener” citizen down the road.
I’ll leave the big thinking on this one to others for the moment and hope that by pointing out people can get clean by staying in the shower for five minutes instead if 30, that will be a good start.
October 15th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Bossy suffers great anxiety when – through the shared wall – she listens to her son’s wasted shower water fall to the drain and out to the streets and into the storm drain and out to the … you know.
Frivolous? No.
October 15th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
no, you are right – and we are working on it here too – for example, turning off the light in his room when he is leaving for a 6 hour school day, that’d be great, right?
October 15th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
When I was little, my parents sometimes closed the drain in the sink while I left the water running while brushing my teeth, or the drain in the tub while I was taking a shower. Seeing all the water that collected gave me a good visual for just how much I was wasting.
It all starts with the small things, yes?
October 15th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
You’re right on the money–kids lose track of time in the bathroom, I think. Try a timer, seriously.
When my niece went in the Coast Guard, they were allowed one-minute showers on their first sea-duty assignments. Many a young Coastie went back to work covered with soap.
October 15th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Hey, I saw you in the NYT today! Have you seen it yet?
October 15th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
When I was a teenager taking 30 minute showers my father would go into the basement and turn off the water to the house, just to get me out. I don’t think nipping it in the bud now, while she’s 7, is frivolous at all.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Is this a second-grader thing? My stepson’s the same age, and the same way. We’ve tried a timer, and so far it hasn’t helped. I just think their minds are everywhere except on what they’re supposed to be doing.
But no, water conservation, like so many other things, starts at home – so I don’t think this is a frivolous topic at all!
October 15th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
my husband once theorized why our own 50 pound wonders (we have a few of them) would need to take such long showers: it’s because they are so tiny that it takes that long for the low flow shower head to get them wet. somehow the spray misses their waif-like frames. still i am nagging all the time to cut the shower time as well as the number of showers needed on a daily basis.
it’s an uphill battle here under the big top.
i do my part the best i can:
we drive a hybrid
i walk rather than drive whenever i can
i force my kids to walk too
oh and i force my family to recycle. we are so good t it we need the super size recycle toter and the small garbage toter.
still if i wish that i could only solve the shower issue
October 16th, 2007 at 12:10 am
Oops. You have nailed me on my big indulgence. I am a vegetarian. I did not reproduce. I recycle. I drive a tiny, tiny car. But I am guilty…I take long showers. On work days, only as long as I can get away with. On weekends…until the hot water runs out. And I mean HOT!! Normal people could not stand it. I turn the hot knob all the way ON and the cold knob all the way OFF. Ahhhhh.
October 16th, 2007 at 9:00 am
If today’s children learn to conserve, they will have a better world to grow up in.
October 16th, 2007 at 9:40 am
I think cutting shower times is great way to start and to teach kids that they can make a difference.
October 18th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
So glad it isn’t just my child that wastes way too much water in the shower. I like the idea from heather/pnr!!