Finding ways to waste less and become more environmentally responsible is definitely one of my priorities - both as a parent and as a human being on this great planet. But to be perfectly honest, it's been a process. We eat organic as much as we can. We eat locally grown food as much as we can. We bring our reusable bags to the grocery store as often as we remember. But you always feel like you could be doing so much more.
As a parent, how many times have you found yourself saying, "Don't leave the water running when you're brushing your teeth?" Or, "Please use both sides of the paper for writing before asking for more."
While we've done our best to try to explain to our daughter why it's important to not be wasteful, there's something about having Mickey Mouse explain these concepts that makes it much easier and more fun for young kids. So, we jumped on the opportunity to review Disney's Mickey & Friends Go Green! A Family Guide to Sustainable Lifestyle.
As Disney fans in this Macaroni house, we have been loving to read all of the tips, facts and activities Mickey and his pals have been sharing on sustainability - reduce, reuse and recycle. Some of the subjects the book touches on are why families should go green, the importance of being active, the impact waste has on the environment.
An example of how the book breaks down some normally complicated stuff is with kids sometimes being picky eaters, there's a whole section on the importance of eating seasonally and eating locally.
There are also fun facts accompanying this section about how a conventional carrot travels 1,838 miles to reach your dinner table (In our best Mickey voice: "Well, gee, that doesn't sound right! If a type of food is grown locally in your area, why export it to another area, only to import the same type of food?").
There are also fun facts accompanying this section about how a conventional carrot travels 1,838 miles to reach your dinner table (In our best Mickey voice: "Well, gee, that doesn't sound right! If a type of food is grown locally in your area, why export it to another area, only to import the same type of food?").
What we appreciate most about this book is not just the depth of information it provides, or even how easy it is for kids to digest what can sometimes be a very complicated subject, but all of the wonderful ideas you can actually implement and crafts you can do as a family. For example, there are tips like eating a vegetarian meal at least one day a week to reduce your family's food footprint or choosing secondhand, recycled or sustainably produced furniture.
The book offers lots of great activities and crafts like the no-cook play dough recipe and making your own natural watercolors.
The book offers lots of great activities and crafts like the no-cook play dough recipe and making your own natural watercolors.
Whether your family is able to apply all, most or just a few steps towards a greener life as a result of this book, overall, it is intended to start or expand on the conversation about making better and healthier choices.
Yes, the book provides a step-by-step guide on how families can take inventory of their own ecological footprint to determine how much waste they're producing. And, yes it also provides some great ways families can protect our environment through composting, gardening, and of course through recycling, reusing and reducing.
But it's so much more than just that. Go Green! A Family's Guide to Sustainable Living is about treating people, places and things with love and respect, connecting with others in an effort to build a stronger sense of community and about recognizing that if we embody values like kindness, generosity, respect and compassion, others will too and everyone's quality of life will improve. To put it in Disney terms, it simply comes down to the Circle of Life.
