Don’t let the water run when you brush your teeth.  To see how much water you waste when you don’t turn off the water, try an experiment. Put a bowl or bucket in the sink under the faucet while you brush your teeth. Watch that bucket fill up! That’s how much water you could save if you turned it off while you’re brushing. (Don’t forget… use that water for something like watering your plants.)

When you leave a room, turn off the light.  But don’t leave anyone sitting in there in the dark unless you’re bringing in a birthday cake. That’s a whole different story!ry!

ZZZZZZZZ Put your computer to sleep when you’re finished using it. Don’t leave it with the screensaver running.  You can wake it up when you come back. Also, turn off the television when you’re done watching. Don’t leave the refrigerator door open for long periods of time. This way you will save a lot of energy which can be used for other things.

Paper! Did you know that paper is made of trees? Imagine how many trees we need to make newspapers, corn flakes boxes or your favorite super hero book. To help save trees, ask your parents to buy “Recycled Paper” for their computer printer. 

When you draw pictures on a piece of paper, use the other side as well. This will save paper too. You can also use the inside of a cereal box instead of throwing it away.

Recycle your stuff: What if you collected clothes don’t wear anymore, toys you no longer play with and books you’re not going to read again? How much stuff do you have? I’m sure it’s a lot. Does your friend have something you’d like to have? Do you have something your friend would like?  Instead of buying new stuff all the time, TRADE with your friends. Then you have “new” stuff all the time and so will your friends! Please ask your parents first.

 If your friends don’t feel like trading, donate your things to your favorite charity (Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.). When you do something like this it’s called reusing.  It’s a great way to be good to our planet because nothing gets wasted or thrown away.

Do you ever want to be THE BOSS? Sure you do. You can be the Boss of Recycling!

Recycling is a pretty easy thing to do, but you have to be responsible. Your job as The Boss means that you’ll organize the recyclable items, put them into bins and remember to put them on the curb on recycling day. You can also help remind everyone else in your house which items can be rinsed and recycled.  You might need some help getting everything outside.

By separating plastic bottles, cans, bottles and more, you’re reducing the amount of trash that goes to the landfill. Landfills are huge areas of trash where all the garbage trucks go to dump what they pick up from houses and businesses. Recycled goods go to a recycling center where people and machines break them down and crush them. What used to be trash is turned into NEW cans, bottles and paper.  Lots of other things get made out of recycled things too.  You’d be amazed.  

Did you ever think that you could save rainwater?

Yes, and there’s something great you can do with it.  You’ll need some help with this, but you could water your garden plants with rainwater. You could also bring some inside to water your indoor plants.  Or your indoor garden. An  indoor garden? Sure!

Your Indoor Garden

You can grow little pots on a sunny windowsill anywhere in your house. A lot of people put them over the kitchen sink.  But if you have a sunny window in your room, you could put them there.  If you wake up in the middle of the night you can creep on over and see how they’re doing, but don’t wake them.

What could you grow? Small vegetables such as some leaf crops, compact and miniature varieties of fruits (like tomatoes) and peppers can be grown indoors year round. As long as the sun keeps coming, they can keep growing. But you don’t want to grow corn or pumpkins. Imagine how big your windowsill would have to be.

If you want to grow herbs, they really should be in the kitchen so you can snip off a bit to use when you are cooking. The best herbs to grow indoors are chives, mint, lemongrass, parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary and basil. When you add your own fresh herbs, your food will be delicious. Pasta with marinara sauce and lots of herbs is yummy!

If you have room, you can have an outdoor garden.  Is there some place where you would plant a tree or put in a little fruit or vegetable garden? If you do, start planting now. Then you can watch, with amazement, as your tree takes root and your garden plants grow from sprigs to big plants full of ripe, red tomatoes or blueberries…you can even grow pumpkins for Halloween! 

You can even be green when you wrap presents. Look how much fun it is to wrap a package in the comics or a map or a piece of newspaper. Or you can take a paper bag and draw pictures on it and that will be your wrapping paper. Did you know that you could be green and oh-so-very creative at the same time?

When it comes to being green there are two important words you should know.

One is called eco-friendly which means “environment friendly” or “nature friendly.” This commonly refers to products that contribute to green living or practices that help conserve resources like water and energy. Eco-friendly products also prevent contributions to air, water and land pollution. 

The other is biodegradable “Biodegradable” means our planet Earth can break down certain materials naturally without any chemicals. So if you use biodegradable things like toys or plates, you throw them into special garbage and they go right back into Earth’s eco-cycle without polluting the planet. Isn’t that cool? You can be a part of that by being green.

Your pets can be eco-friendly too!

Please tell your parents to only buy pet shampoo and grooming products with eco-friendly ingredients (read the label).

You can use biodegradable poop bags instead of plastic shopping bags, and you can get pet toys made of the same bio-material.

When it comes to pet food, look for food that has more whole foods and less chemicals and by-products. Both, your planet and your pet will love you.

Now that you know how to be green, are you ready to take on the task? We know you are!

Put together a Green Team, ask your family and friends to join you in your mission to SAVE THE WORLD TOGETHER!

Remember… you’re The Boss…

Please leave us a comment and tell us what you do to be green.

Written by Holly White and Sven Garrett. A Willy’s Kitchen property