One world, one life, and only one choice is needed to make a difference. We need to decide as Moms, wives, sisters, aunts, and daughters if we are going to use our influence to make a difference.  We are the ones who shape future habits and instill values in our family members.  It is important that we make a conscious decision to love our earth and teach our children to do the same.

I grew up in the recycling age.  In elementary school I learned that it was cool to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  The lessons I learned in my kinder years continue to shape my actions everywhere I go.  I will never forget the giant ball of foil my elementary school made from students recycled home foil or the small villages we played with during playtime, which were made from a myriad of different sized boxes.  Now, that I am older with my own children I always try to think of ways I can stretch dual purposes from items around the house.  By doing so, I save money, generate less trash in the landfill, and keep my children engaged.

When my children were infants I started saving our lids from concentrated juice cans.  Now, I use them as counters. On one side of the circle is the number written out in word form, and on the back is the numerical symbol. My children love the noise they make, they enjoy counting with them, and they are learning that words and numbers go together.

Some children may even enjoy using recycled cereal boxes as building blocks.  To see step by step instructions on how to create the cereal box blocks click here.

Stay tuned for other activities using objects found around the house; and ways to teach children of all ages to reduce their amount of consumption, reuse what they already have, and recycle what they can.