With 
the kids being out of school, summer is a great time to encourage earth-friendly home habits!
- Read books that encourage conversation like The Lorax, Why Should I Save Energy and multitudes of others.
- Create a contest between parents and kids to see who can be more “green” and set habits in place that you can carry into the Fall and beyond. This article in the Antonio Examiner has great ideas on making it a success.
- Ride bikes to the library, walk to the grocery store and ride the bus to your next summer festival. You will save money, get some excercise and soak in more summer. Bicycle Sundays are a great place to start!
- Use city wading pools and spray parks! Filling hundreds of home wading pools uses more water than a public community wading pool, so the spray parks and wading pools are a great choice! Find your closest wading pool on the City of Seattle website.
In between switching off lights, biking to the library, and playing in spray parks, the kids might start complaining about being bored. We suggest creating a box of “art supplies” (leftover paper and fabric scraps, nuts and screws from projects-past, and bits of wood and string – whatever safe, unused items you have around) that the kids are allowed to pull from at any time to make something – whether it be a vacation resort for their dolls or a circus tent for the local insect population. Check out these great trash-to-toys pictures and video for more inspiration.
Enjoy the precious “days of summer” ahead!