The Number One Tip For Raising An Eco-Conscious Child

The bottom line on this issue for me has nothing to do with recycling, carpooling or turning the water off when you brush your teeth.  While those are all good choices to make, of course, when it comes to raising green children, you need to be a whole new type of green parent and use earth smart practices that are really about teaching them how to connect with common sense, common courtesy and their own heart-based compassion.

I believe that the foundation of a happy family, a connective society and a healthy planet is in putting our efforts toward raising kids who are in touch with how good and correct it feels to be thoughtful contributors to a society.  From there, all things are possible and all problems can be solved.

Having been in the green coaching field for several decades, I've had the opportunity to watch green information, green perceptions and green products evolve so much that I've realized that the green movement is a constant work in progress.  As a society, we are constantly becoming more informed about what is really going on, and yet in many cases, we still don't have a clear picture.

So, my style of offering suggestions is not to prescribe a list of green tips and tricks - because that can be googled with the click of a mouse - but rather, I prefer to ask people to simply take a moment to stop what they are doing, breathe deeply, connect with their own inner brilliance, and let a smile spontaneously emerge from a feeling peace and contentedness.  From there, you just might come up with your own fresh ideas about a list of what feels responsible and intelligent for you and your family in the process of creating a green lifestyle.

You might even consider teaching your children to practice the same thing.  Show them how to stop everything, take a deep breath, connect with their happy little hearts and smile.  Because in the end, that spectacular feeling of being connected to an inner wholeness is everything that we are actually fighting to protect on this amazing planet anyway.  So, demonstrating how to discover their authentic happiness and connect even more deeply with YOU is about the greenest thing that I can think of for parents to do with their children.

The positive effects of that kind of parenting will be felt by the entire world in ways which you can't even predict, because teaching the lesson of contentedness and inner peace is the greatest gift you can offer. Chasing down the next Yu-Gi-Oh toy or the tenth pair of children's earrings will give them a moment of satisfaction, but the real gem in this life is feeling powerful and peaceful without constantly needing to create more stories of stuff.

For more tips of the concrete variety, please visit the Green Consultation section of the site.