Green Trek - The Next Generation

One thing is for certain - our habits, as a species, need to change. We need to change and we need to train our children to think differently than we were raised to think.

When I say that our children need to think differently than we were raised to think, I mean that most of us were raised in the halcyon days of America. Most parents at the time were just beginning to become aware of the dangers of smoking and really had little to no awareness on topics such as the environment or global warming. Despite the oil crisis of the late 70's, no one thought that was indicative of shortages to come. They mainly thought this was a geopolitical issue and to a large degree they were right.

My Dad was a bit ahead of the curve in terms of environmental awareness. As long as I can remember he has been a member of the Sierra Club and he always taught us that littering was a bad thing to do. Back then this was as environmentally conscious as most people got. I'm not saying there wasn't an environmental movement or that there wasn't progress made on cleaning up many rivers, bays, etc. I'm saying it wasn't an issue that loomed large in the conscious minds of most people.

This is what it needs to become - an issue looming large in the conscious mind of society as a whole. What will make this change of thought stick as an ongoing realignment of mankind's approach to how we treat Earth is the indoctrination of our youth. Raising our children with these concerns in mind will make them second nature to the next generation of humanity.

I'm no child psychologist, but I am a father of four so I believe I have some insight into kids and how they think. Some people have accused me of being nothing more than a big kid. Well, they have cooties and can kiss my hiney.

Anyway - what I've done in my house is I've involved my kids. If they ask me what I'm reading I tell them. I try to get them interested in what it is I'm reading (right now I'm reading The Renewable Energy Handbook by William H. Kemp).

When I am working on some spreadsheet to calculate this or that concerning our family's energy consumption I make a point of making my work visible. Again, if any questions are asked I enthusiatically answer them. If you tell a kid, "Oh, nothing. What I'm doing is boring" they'll run away and never pay it any mind again.

My kids both have their own PC. They also have an X-Box 360 and TV they share. I showed them my spreadsheet and how them leaving their PCs on all day long was costing our family $17.86 a month each or $35.72 all together every month.

Since they'd both had their PCs for over a year I asked them, "Hey, each of you go get your piggy banks and give me $214.32 please. That's $17.86 a month times 12 months. Thanks!"

Of course my daughter (9) and son (12) looked at me like I was crazy.

"It doesn't cost that much!" my daughter said.

"No, you're right," I said. "You actually owe me more than that since I wasn't even taking the X-Box or TV into account."

Needless to say I didn't actually drain my kids piggy banks. It did serve to illustrate the point. They both realized that all of the allowance they had accumulated over months didn't add up to the electric bill just for their PCs. It was very easy from there to convince them to turn them off while not in use.

I placed a little picture next to the light switch in their rooms that said "STOP! Is your computer off? Is your monitor off? Turn off your light!"

After spot-checks over the last week they are doing a much better job at conserving the power consumed by their personal electronics. I have only had to come behind them and power off their PC once so far.

Our low flow showerhead should be arriving soon. When it arrives I'll see if I can get one of the kids to help me install it. Once installed I'll have to gather the family around and explain to them how they can take advantage of the "pause" feature that this showerhead offers (they can stop the flow of water while they lather up).

By getting them involved and talking to them about conservation, efficiency, and green living I am hoping to raise a green batch of kids. A good sign that they are thinking green will be if they ask you questions about conservation or energy on their own.