Pre-School Goes Green

Think pre-schoolers can't be "green" like adults?  Think again!  Universal Studios' Child Care Center's children have managed to divert 28 tons of waste from a landfill by recycling and composting as much as possible.  This includes using glass plates, cups and silverware when ever possible instead of of disposable items which create more waste.  At an early age these "green" minded children are taught "if it was once a plant, then it belongs in this bin."  ie the recycle bin/compost bin.  In turn, the compost comes back to the center to help nourish the gardens that the children plant and other plants around the studio.
To take it's "green" mentality one step further, Universal Studios has released a "green" film titled "The Lorax" which tells a tale of pollution and an environment that goes bad due to too much use of natural resources by big industry.  It's message is simple...conserve the Earth's natural resources.  Although this story was first published in book form by Dr. Seuss 40 years ago, it still rings true today as box office figures put the film's opening revenue at $70.2 Million which is the strongest opening of the year up to March.  So step aside Captain Jack Sparrow, there's a new money magnet in town and it's "The Lorax"!  It is never too late to teach young or old children to take care of the Earth and get them to think "The Earth is not our trash can".
 As a pre-school teacher, I've heard conversations by children such as "What's the matter with you, don't you know that the Earth is not your trash can?  Pick up your trash!" or as a child is walking along and spots a soda can and bids their elder sibling to please help keep the Earth clean by picking up other people's trash and recycle it when you can.  These types of incidents are not by accident.  It takes a lot of repeating the same information over and over and allowing the children to participate in the "green" clean-up to sink in, but it's worth it in the long run.  Who knows, perhaps they'll write a book.
At Discoveries Learning Centers in Santa Barbara, CA  there is a whole lot of "green" going on.  Their motto is "reduce, reuse, recycle".  Even the chickens that they keep are a part of this philosophy as they get much of the school's left overs from meals served at the school.  In addition, they keep a recycle box for electrical equipment such as cell phones, chargers, ink for printers.  Once, a teacher went to the local zoo and saw a sign that asked visitors to please recycle their old cell phones and help to save the gorilla population in the Congo.  She decided to provide lessons about the gorilla, cell phone recycling and how this helps them.  In addition the children wrote a book about the subject.  The school has also been named a green school and is a member of Green Care For Children.  For more information on this organization please go to www.greencareforchildren.org and you can visit the Lorax Project at www.theloraxproject.com.
Help to inspire the children in your lives to be aware of how important it is to take care of the environment that we share by simple steps.  Include them in a clean-up at a beach or local estuary such as the Los Angeles River that snakes throughout the entire area.  Explain to them how important it is to pick up trash even tho it may not be theirs.
At the end of the day, it is time well spent and is music to one's ears when you hear them say "The Earth is not your trash can!"

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