Teaching the kids

Every morning I watch the Today show as I start the day. It is one of the few times that the TV is on during the day. This morning there was a segment featuring the Tom Brokaw special which will be on the Discovery Channel. It was about Global Warming. We watched the research that was done about the polar bear population. The polar bear population is dying quickly due to global warming. It was very difficult for us to watch. I found a website shich shows some of hte video clips for the program at:
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/
globalwarming/videogallery/videogallery.html

Following hte small segment the kids and I turned off the TV and discussed what we saw. We discussed our roles as humans on the planet. I explained to them that "wastefulness" is a major contributer to global warming. I did not talk excessively about consumption (I thought that might be too much). I asked if they understood what I meant by waste. They understood that it is not good to use too much gas, that using the air conditioner could be wasteful, paper towels are wasteful, etc. Elyse (age 7) said that that is why we choose to walk to the store and not drive. That that is why we wear "hand-me-downs" instead of buying new clothes, that is why we don't buy toys and electronic "toys". I explained that when we are not watching tv, we should, unplug the tv, etc. We talked about how far our food has to travel (in trucks) and that is why we go to the farmers market and grow some of our own foods. We talked about how much grain and water is used to grow cattle and that is why we eat little or no meat (so that others can eat).

The kids seemed to "get it". Zach (age 6) ran around the house and unplugged everything that was not in use. When we went to the bank (had to drive), the kids reminded me to turn off the car so that we would not waste gas. It was absolutely wonderful. I have some "green" books that I will share with Madison (age 12) so that she can have a deeper understanding of our family choices.

On another note, J found someone in Duluth who can help him get our veggie mobile going. Woo woo! I can't wait to see how it works.