5 Ways To Instil Green Habits In Your Children
Green living doesn't have to be an epiphany. Start them young
By Sandhya Mahadevan -
In 2019, when the pandemic hit, and lockdown set in, people took to nature. People started renewing their sustainability goals. With border closures, the prospect of food insecurity was looming large—although we knew deep down that Singapore would not let it come to that.
Living in lockdowns meant that people needed to find ways to pass their time meaningfully. Home kitchen became venues where budding entrepreneurs could give vent to their creativity. Families exploring the length and breadth of the island by foot became a common sight. The existing 460km of cycling paths of the Park Connector Network saw a lot of tire tracks—making the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) 2030 goal to triple it a sensible investment.
As an informed population, sustainability, eco living and green habits have been on most of our lists, but why wait for another pandemic to bring it into full focus? Why not make it an active part of our lives and mould our children to think green right from when they are young?
We speak to two eco warriors Aarika Lee, Marketing Director at Elementary Co., and Gauri Savadi, founder of volunteer organisation Tragaur Pte Ltd, which advocates for many causes including sustainability, healthy living and animal abuse. The mothers of three share some nuggets from their own upbringing, and the simple sustainability lessons that have set their children on this journey.
Green living is a good aspiration to have, but in the modern world, and especially in an urban environment as in Singapore, it is not always possible. A good place to start is by being grateful and appreciating what one has, says Savadi, “unless we go back to the kampung life in the true sense”. Teaching children the value of a simple ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’ inculcates a healthy respect in them and the values of humble living while teaching the recipients to be better humans, she adds.
“I am a firm believer of modelling behaviours rather than tracing them. It’s to the influential adults on how you conduct yourself which impacts characteristic building in the young,” says Savadi.
Lee concurs. Simple actions such as turning the water off when you’re brushing your teeth and telling them why – “there is limited potable water on our planet even though in Singapore we never seem to go without and have water readily available from our taps – can become habit forming and create awareness, adds Lee.
“It was actually my maternal grandmother who instilled green habits in me. Growing up she always reminded us to save water when we could, not to waste food, and she had a green thumb, which meant she would always be growing fruit for the family to consume. She didn’t say it in so many words that everything we did had an impact on the environment, but her actions always taught us that they did.”
Lee and her husband Kevin Lester (a.k.a TheLionCityBoy) try their best to lead by example. “We remind them whenever we can how all our actions have a consequence, an impact on the world around us,” she shares.
Include your kids in your conscious decisions, says Lee. “For example, I don’t eat meat and my kids understand it’s because the resources used to farm/rear an animal are so much more than growing vegetables and I want to do what I can to help, even if it might seem like a very small contribution,” she adds.
The couple also do not have air conditioning in their home – “because it’s one of the biggest things to negatively affect our climate”, explains Lee. “It’s something that we discussed with the kids when we got our new home.”
Changing habits that have passed down generations may be a work in progress, but parents can involve them in activities that relays the urgency of matters, says Savadi.
Tragaur has organised Kayak and Klean experiences, a fun two-hour activity which also helps a young one to understand the need to reduce plastic usage. Savadi also organises recycling drives. “We collect used newspapers, contact lens peels, books and tin pull ups for varied usages,” she explains, adding that this is an activity that many children in the community are keen to contribute to.
"From a young age, we’ve worked to instill in the children a love for nature – for animals as well as the outdoors, and I know it’s because they have this love that they truly care about what happens and are more mindful about their actions when they can be," says Lee.
She recommends that parents solution-based play games and read books about climate crisis that outline how the problem can be solved if actioned as a team. Lee's top picks: (I have some books at home. Let me get you the titles in a bit)
Lee and Lester also take their children to visit museums and interactive exhibitions on sustainability. "ArtScience Museum usually has some good ones. One other thing we like to do together is watch documentaries or television series about the planet."