Why, good morrow my dear friends!
As I am sure you are aware (since only enlightened, conscious people read this blog) this coming Monday is Earth Day. Now, I’m not going to pretend that we have one of those pristine, super-efficient houses, where we have zero carbon emissions, eat only raw food and recycle our rainwater. But we do try to do a little carbon tiptoeing around here.
Before I was married with kids I hoped that the bigger picture would solve itself. My single self would ask my single brain things like, “Does it really matter if I throw my plastic in the garbage can?” Or, after locking my single apartment door, “Is it really going to make a difference if I leave one light on all day while I’m at work?” You know, stuff like that.
However, once I had kids the questions were more like, “By running an extra spin cycle, am I reducing my children’s future access to clean water by 10 years, or 15?” The gravity of things shift a little when your extended self (a.k.a. your children) have to endure the consequences of your actions by a margin of about 30 years. Also, the need to set a good example really sets in, once you look into those love-me-teach-me-prepare-me eyes for the first time. And believe me, if it doesn’t automatically, it certainly will come crashing home the first time you hear your child use a swear word. Not that mine ever have, I’ve just heard other kids say swears. Obviously the result of terrible parenting.
Anyway, as parents, I subscribe to the idea that if we adopt practices of conservation, social awareness and a general concern for the state of the planet we inhabit, then hopefully, these traits will be an intrinsic part of our next generation. From there I am hoping, if i do it right, I can let them do all the work while I drive my retirement-savings-funded Hummer to the McDonald’s Drive-Thru on my way to the golf course. See, there is a point.
So why not make this Earth Day super fun with lots of crafts and a celebration? A celebration that focuses on the fact that EVERYONE is trying to do their part to abuse this world a little less. Maybe don’t make a cake that looks like a dying world-turned-raisin complete with a fiery finale, but you know, something Earth-love related.
I thought I’d share with you a couple of the eco-crafts we’ve done around here lately, and if you like them, you can do them too!
The Paperless Painting Station
As some of you super-sleuths may have recognized, this photo was taken this winter. I am only pointing that out because they stayed up, and were used regularly until recently. And by “recently,” I mean, “until Ben ripped them off the door in a two-year-old rage.” To make these, I took two heavy-duty freezer bags, and put in several gobs of finger paints. Finger paints work best because they’re more gel-ish. Watercolour paints mix too easily and you end up with one brown gob. Not quite as inspiring.
