5 Impactful Ways to Foster Environmental Values in Your Child

Sustainability is an excellent value to see reflected in your own children and a gift to future generations. However, it can be challenging to know where to start.

Discover how you can cultivate responsible habits and an intrinsic environmental appreciation in your child through actionable and age-appropriate strategies.

1. Cultivate Their Connection to Nature

Before expecting a child to be excited about adopting sustainable habits, make sure they fully understand the reason behind it. Build habits that help them create a personal and positive relationship with the environment through unstructured, sensory experiences. Children who have more contact with nature are more likely to engage in sustainable and eco-friendly practices.

Take your child to local woodlands, streams and coastlines so they can appreciate nature beyond typical parks. As you visit these places, listen for birdsong, feel the texture of tree trunks and observe insects. Encourage a nature journal where they are free to draw and write about what they see and encounter. These bonding activities help solidify sustainability lessons and concepts.

2. Let Them Experience Environmental and Marine Discovery Camps

Specialised camps can be highly transformative experiences. They provide exciting and tangible experiences where children create lasting memories. They can also develop a deeper understanding of nature through such an immersive camp experience.

Many world-class programmes demonstrate the power of hands-on scientific exploration of nature. For example, renowned camps like Catalina Sea Camp have a long-standing reputation of inspiring future oceanographers through hands-on lab and underwater exploration.

Children can learn concepts by exploring kelp forests or observing marine life firsthand. Other similar environmental and discovery camps and experiences in the UK include Field Studies Council, ATE Superweeks and local Wildlife Trust camps.

3. Integrate Sustainability into Daily Rhythms

Embody principles of waste reduction and conscious consumption in daily life. Remind children of the real-life impact of sustainable practices. Discuss the waste hierarchy with them by focusing first on what they can do to reduce wasted resources. For example, remind them that shorter showers can save five or more gallons of water or that wasteful spending can lead to items ending up in landfills.

Explain the reuse principle through homemade projects. For example, you can reuse glass jars or turn old t-shirts into rags. You can also schedule a weekly fix-it session where the whole family can spend time together repairing broken toys or mending clothes to understand the value of an item. This practice teaches them not to throw away functional items so readily.

Other sustainable practices you can model for your child include meal-prepping and cultivating a small herb garden. Around 88 kg of food per person is wasted in the UK each year. Growing your own food will help them appreciate how food comes to their table and prevent waste.

4. Encourage Them to Engage With Community and Technology

Between 50% and 67% of people aged 16 to 25 experience negative emotions about climate change. This anxiety about the state of the world can affect their daily activities, such as sleep and education. Make sure you help them deal with these emotions and empower them to take action into their own hands.

Frame technology not as the enemy, but a helpful tool that can bring positive change. Show tangible actions where technology has been used for good, such as spreading sustainable practices and tips. Get them involved in community efforts, such as fun runs for the environment, cleanup drives and farm-to-table initiatives. Seeing all these positive changes can help them feel more connected to the cause and motivate them to continue sustainable habits.

5. Teach Them to Read the World

Help children develop eco-literacy to navigate the world better. Watch documentaries or read news about the topic and be there for them when they have any questions. Don’t shy away from hard stuff like deforestation, as that is how they will come to understand the urgency and importance of sustainable practices.

Moreover, make sure to ask insightful questions that will help them develop critical thinking skills. Here are some questions you can pose when relevant and depending on their age:

• Where did these strawberries come from?
• What does greenwashing look like, and why do companies do it?
• What is this object made out of?
• Why is summer so hot?

Raising the Future Stewards of the Planet

Fostering a true environmental ethic is a journey, not a destination. Remember that no child can do sustainable practices perfectly the first time around. What is important is raising children who are aware, engaged and empowered to help be part of the solution. By building an emotional connection with nature and encouraging meaningful experiences, you ensure that your child has a strong sense of what is right for the environment.