Earth Day-Just for Kids?

At our home, we try to shield the kids from many of the current news topics-foreclosed homes, job loss, politics-they can all be pretty scary for adults to deal with and terrifying to a impressionable child who thinks it all means we're going to lose our house someday. But, the one topic that has found its way in is the environment, specifically Earth Day. Thanks to kids tv stations and movies promoting the event today, our kids have gotten pretty excited and very interested in caring for the Earth.

And thanks to Wal-mart's new eco-friendly ad campaign, the kids have turned into sponges and speakers for environmental facts. My stepdaughter has become so impassioned she decided she needed to write a letter to our city council because they don't offer recycle pick-up. Residents have to go to a drop off location which she believed made people not want to help the earth. I was pretty impressed with her letter and her determination to make a difference. Even my step-son has become pretty obsessed with participating in Nickelodeon's "Power Down" which encourages viewers to turn off all the lights and electronics for 60 seconds today to show the impact we can have on the Earth when we work together. He stated, "We should do it because we can help out."

We could all learn a big lesson from kids' attitudes to Earth Day:look beyond ourselves and make small adjustments in our daily lives for the greater good. Even if you don't believe in the "green" movement or global warming, you have to admit these kids are onto something. At their age, helping the Earth is important for a basic reason-they have to live on it and deal with the effects of our (adult) choices even when we are gone. And how fair is that? Kids see making choices to help the environment as a good thing and the right thing to do. Adults, however, see some of these choices as inconvenient, potentially making us sacrifice our level of comfort. But really, can you feel a difference in temperature if you turn the thermostat up one or two degrees in the summertime? Probably not.

Adults forget we make all the big important decisions while kids usually have to wait to grow up to contribute significantly to society. Kids see environmental responsibility as an important issue they can be actively involved in-they have the control to turn lights off, not run the water while brushing their teeth, picking up trash they see outside and they do it because they believe they are contributing and making a difference. If only adults could be so impassioned about issues impacting our lives.

Thank you kids!

How important do you think environmental awareness is among other issues we face today? What changes should we make to help?