Children
291: 5 Eco-Friendly Tips to Teach Your Kids to Give Back to the Planet
Jul 18th
My 3 year old son and I do many of my daily “gives” together. We had been planning one for quite some time and I had been putting it off due to time and my fear of picking up a hammer. Just so you know I am not “joe handy person” nor have basic building skills. But today I picked up a hammer and taught my son about reusing, recycling and how one person’s garbage can be anothers treasure.
Day 291: Give 291
The neighbourhood we live in in Vancouver has a lot of building going on of new homes. There are many old cottage style homes that are far from being able to save and new homes are going up on every block. We noticed that there is a lot of scrap wood that goes into these new homes that is thrown away and hauled off to a landfill. We walk past these building sites often and talk about what colour we would like to paint a house, what features like big windows we liked. One day I suggested we ask the gentleman at the building site if we could take some of the wood they were throwing away and we would build our own house in the backyard. A house just the right size for a 3 year old. That project started about 8 months ago by collecting the wood but it has been sitting in our garage collecting dust since. We had some extra time today and I decided it was time to build our eco-friendly house. It wasn’t going to be the perfect little blue and white cottage I had envisioned but it didn’t matter to my son. He was just happy to get his tools out, put on his hard hat and get to work.
We talked about all the special things our house would have that we should all consider when building or renovating our homes. These are my 5 tips for teaching your kids how to give back to the planet.
1) Use reclaimed wood for building supplies.
2) Have large windows for natural air-conditioning.
3) Build in a sunny spot to utilize the sun as a natural heater.
4) Have a roof that could drain rain water into a “barrel” to use to water our plants (notice the angle of our roof)
5) Decorate with eco-friendly paints that won’t hurt the planet (next part of our project)
Nicolas added some “lounge chairs” as he calls them, on the inside of the house also used from our reclaimed wood and soon the painting will begin. He has been given the freedom to decorated it as he chooses as long as it won’t hurt the planet.
It would have been easy for me to go buy some special already made plastic house at Walmart but instead we spent the time doing a special project together that taught him a few things along the way. We gave back to the planet by using materials that were right outside our back door and we got to spend precious time together doing a memorable project.
Do you have a special project you have done with your kids to help teach them how to take care of the planet? We would love to hear about it. Leave us a comment or send us a note a changetheworld@365give.ca.
Time Commitement: 1 hour
Cost: 0
Day 288: 365give Tells the Story of Love
Jul 15th
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb6vcPDJKpc&feature=related
I have come to realize after 288 days of giving that giving comes in more forms than I imagined. I do not consider myself to be a writer but telling other peoples stories and sharing their mission has become a great way for me to “give” to organizations. I can’t make a financial donation everyday nor can I volunteer everyday but I can use my voice to tell stories. It was one of the reasons I chose social media as my outlet to give. It is an opportunity to share stories of giving that could reach corners of the world I never expected.
I give out of love. I give because I love our world so much I want to make it a better place. I love my son so much I am will to try anything to make sure that happens. Love motivates us in all kinds of ways and today’s give is was motivated by exactly that – Love146.
Day 288: Give 288
There are many things wrong in our world. People are starving while millions are obese. Governments are corrupt while their people suffer. The planet is being torn apart as we abuse it with all our wants and needs.
There are so many that suffer and one particular atrocity that makes me sick is when children are subjected to cruel and indecent behaviour by people that think it’s ok. How could anyone take a young girl and turn them into a sex slave for their own benefit, ultimately for money. A billion dollar business all motivated by greed.
Love146 is trying to help the children that have been subjected to child sex slavery and exploitation. Their story is one we should all keep close to our hearts and remember it is a reality that is happening every day to so many children. What if it was your child? Take a moment ans see how it would feel.
This is just the beginning of the Love146 story. Their story is not only worth sharing but supporting. What will you do today to help protect the innocent children being so abused?
“In 2002, the co-founders of Love 146 travelled to South East Asia on an exploratory trip to determine how they could serve in the fight against child sex trafficking. In one experience, a couple of our co-founders were taken undercover with investigators to a brothel, where they witnessed children being sold for sex. This was their experience. This is the story that changed our lives.
We found ourselves standing shoulder to shoulder with predators in a small room, looking at little girls through a pane of glass. All of the girls wore red dresses with a number pinned to their dress for identification. They sat, blankly watching cartoons on TV. They were vacant, shells of what a child should be. There was no light in their eyes, no life left. Their light had been taken from them. These children…raped each night… seven, ten, fifteen times every night. They were so young. Thirteen, eleven… it was hard to tell. Sorrow covered their faces with nothingness. Except one girl. One girl who wouldn’t watch the cartoons. Her number was 146. She was looking beyond the glass. She was staring out at us, with a piercing gaze. There was still fight left in her eyes. There was still life left in this girl…”
Love146 is changing the world not just one child at a time but many. They are rescuing girls from a life of abuse, rape and torture and bringing them back to life. Find it in your heart today to give to Love146 in whatever way you can. Every little bit makes a difference and will help save a life.
Time Commitment: 1 hour of writing
Cost: 0
Day 286: Giving to Help Grief
Jul 13th
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMBTYhToLRA
Have you ever had a time in your life when something so devastating happened to you didn’t know how you would get through the day? If so read on as this may help. I found a way to help with grief – you give.
Day 286: Give 286
Today’s post was suppose to have a different title. I had it all planned. It was to be one of the happiest days of my life and instead is one of the saddest. My husband and I were on the verge of adopting our second child. A little new born baby boy. As I write this I should instead be at the hospital picking him. But things happen with adoption and yesterday it all went sideways and the adoption got cancel. We are heart broken. The crib had to be taken down and all the baby cloths put away.
Why am I sharing this with so many people? I found a way to help my grief and I am hoping it will help you.
I had a choice to make this morning when I woke up. I could still be in bed rolled up in a ball wallowing in my grief or I could do something to give back to help make me feel better. I made the choice to give.
365give is about giving everyday no matter what happens in your life. Giving doesn’t just make the receiver feel better but it makes you feel better. It takes a terrible situation and turns into a little good. Finding the good can be a tough thing when you feel sorry for yourself and in this case, for an innocent child.
Today I made a donation to the Dave Thomas Foundation Canada. This little boy that did not come home today to our family will now be in foster care until many things get sorted out. It is one of the reasons I am so sad.
As quoted from the Dave Thomas Foundation “We are firmly committed to continue our founder’s vision and belief that all children deserve the love and support of a permanent family.”
Dave Thomas owner of the Wendy’s chain was adopted himself and started this organization to help children find that forever family.
Over 78,000 are in foster care in Canada and 30,000 of those are free and available for adoption.
I hope one day the opportunity will arise that we will be able to adopt again. I am already an adoptive mother of one beautiful little boy and I believe in my heart one day he will have a brother or sister. Giving does help even on the days you don’t think you can handle doing anything for another person. Grieving takes time to recover from but in the mean time I will keep giving in hopes to make just one other persons life a little better.
Time Commitment: 2 minutes to make a donation
Cost: A cash donation
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