Celebrating Earth Day "Month"! Nightlights, robots, & recycled paper.
I love Earth Day! I've loved every since I heard about it and stumbled upon an Earth Day Birthday celebration Almost 25 years ago!
At the time I was living in Dayton, Ohio and often went Downtown to shop at the now defunct department stores. [Aww memories, but that is another post.]
One April day, as I headed to Elder Beerman, going through the Court Yard, I noticed this festival. Unsure of what it was I stopped at the various booths to check out what was going on.
To be honest, this was the first time I ever even realized that we needed to care for the earth. Sad but true. The movement was gaining big momentum back then [It started in 1970], and I credit that festival for helping to open my eyes.
I have to admit I'm not doing as much as I could, or as much as I have in the past.
But maybe it's time to revisit some of the things I used to do.
I know as I've grown older, learned more about my own ancestral roots, and had children, I've realized that truly it is our responsibility to be good stewards of this earth. To leave it better than we found it in some way. To leave it lovely for the future generations.
One thing I love to do now, is various crafts and projects with my sons. They are very much into preserving the earth and taking care of things. I smile with pride every time they see garbage thrown on the ground and pick it up and throw it away.
During this April, I've picked out a few projects for us to do that both are fun, and help to reinforce the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle aspect of green living.
This weekend, we made "night lights" out of outside foliage and out of scraps of window covering [reuse!], and empty boxes. The boys loved it AND now they have their own unique work of art to see as they drift off to sleep.
You really only need clear contact paper [or clear packing tape], scraps of paper/fabric/wallpaper/paint chip samples/flowers/foliage/leaves, whatever is "flatter" and will stick to contact paper or tape.
Let me add a note that when trying to get the items to stick to contact paper things like light fabric may work better. I found that heavier foliage did not stick too well to the contact paper, unless you put the box on it's side and then hurried and covered it with another piece of contact paper right away.|
Next weekend, we plan on using a great Bill Nye the Science Guy paper recycler that a friend gave us to make "new" paper for cards and projects. Then the following weekend we are going to use empty coffee and food cans to make some kind of hanging "robot" Both will get their own posts of how it all turns out! :)
I encourage everyone to do something fun this month for Earth Day. It doesn't have to be fancy or in depth. It could be as simple as planting some flower seeds. Whatever you do, have fun, and use this moment as a wonderful teaching moment!
One April day, as I headed to Elder Beerman, going through the Court Yard, I noticed this festival. Unsure of what it was I stopped at the various booths to check out what was going on.
To be honest, this was the first time I ever even realized that we needed to care for the earth. Sad but true. The movement was gaining big momentum back then [It started in 1970], and I credit that festival for helping to open my eyes.
I have to admit I'm not doing as much as I could, or as much as I have in the past.
But maybe it's time to revisit some of the things I used to do.
I know as I've grown older, learned more about my own ancestral roots, and had children, I've realized that truly it is our responsibility to be good stewards of this earth. To leave it better than we found it in some way. To leave it lovely for the future generations.
One thing I love to do now, is various crafts and projects with my sons. They are very much into preserving the earth and taking care of things. I smile with pride every time they see garbage thrown on the ground and pick it up and throw it away.
During this April, I've picked out a few projects for us to do that both are fun, and help to reinforce the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle aspect of green living.
This weekend, we made "night lights" out of outside foliage and out of scraps of window covering [reuse!], and empty boxes. The boys loved it AND now they have their own unique work of art to see as they drift off to sleep.
You really only need clear contact paper [or clear packing tape], scraps of paper/fabric/wallpaper/paint chip samples/flowers/foliage/leaves, whatever is "flatter" and will stick to contact paper or tape.
Let me add a note that when trying to get the items to stick to contact paper things like light fabric may work better. I found that heavier foliage did not stick too well to the contact paper, unless you put the box on it's side and then hurried and covered it with another piece of contact paper right away.|
Next weekend, we plan on using a great Bill Nye the Science Guy paper recycler that a friend gave us to make "new" paper for cards and projects. Then the following weekend we are going to use empty coffee and food cans to make some kind of hanging "robot" Both will get their own posts of how it all turns out! :)
I encourage everyone to do something fun this month for Earth Day. It doesn't have to be fancy or in depth. It could be as simple as planting some flower seeds. Whatever you do, have fun, and use this moment as a wonderful teaching moment!
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