Help kids see how they can make a difference

With climate change dominating the national conversation, helping kids navigate today’s complex world can be a formidable challenge. How can parents inspire children to make eco-conscious  choices? Truth is, it’s a family affair. 

Nemours Center for Children’s Health Media says the best way to teach them is to be a good role model yourself. By showing that you care about and respect the environment, your kids will do the same. 

“This can start in your own backyard,” it said in its website. “Help kids plant a garden or tree. Set up bird feeders, a birdbath, and birdhouses. Kids can clean out and refill the bath daily, and clean up seed debris around feeders and restock them.”

Another way is to replace items that have alternatives to plastics, like replacing plastic straws with paper straws. 

Embracing these simple choices by parents and children alike can reap benefits, and can help keep the environment clean. Nestle’s Chuckie ready-to-drink chocolate milk, in fact, is also joining the pursuit to take care of nature by replacing plastic straws with paper straws, which are 100 percent food-grade and designed to be recycled.

To help get around some of these new changes, Nestle has some tips on how the whole family can be mother nature’s buddy and how you can get the best paper straw experience.

1. When inserting the straw, hold the bottom end of the paper straw at an angle and swiftly push it downwards to pierce a hole on the foil seal.
2. Avoid jamming the straw through the foil seal like you would using a plastic straw as this might dent or bend the paper straw which will lead to faster absorption of the liquid.
3. Once the paper straw is in, consume your drink within 15-30 minutes.
4. Hold back the habit of biting the straw to maximize its life.
5. Don't forget to push the straw back and dispose the clean flattened pack to the recyclable trash bin.

Actively choosing to be more environmentally-conscious is something to be proud of, and teaching kids about finding joy in embracing eco-friendly habits is a great lesson best taught at an early age, too!