Every day we try to do a little more for a cleaner planet. But how do we pass the torch to children? Here are 6 simple, eco-friendly "small gestures" to introduce them, raise their awareness and make them the future defenders of our Earth.

Children are very keen on initiatives when it comes to protecting nature, and it would be wrong to believe that they are not capable of commitment, on the contrary! They are the first to want to do well, and participate in the family's ecological actions. In this way, we help them to adopt respectful behavior and develop their ecological awareness for the future.

1- Prefer bulk shopping

We start by explaining that managing waste is expensive and polluting, but that we don't have to buy the packaged products that we see everywhere. So instead of going to the supermarket, head to the zero-waste grocery store or the organic store armed with small paper or fabric bags . We go around the aisle together, we read the labels. We show them how to position the bag correctly, and then we let them do it! We can compare the weights of the bags, show what 1 kg, 500 g is. Today, everything can be bought in bulk in certain classic stores or in specialized stores, from flour to laundry detergent! Look in your area: there is certainly a zero-waste store nearby.

• Planet benefits: less packaging and therefore less waste.
• Child benefit: learning to choose, to weigh and to understand that other choices can be made.

2- Plant flowers for insects

This activity allows you to approach with children the role of pollinating insects that transport male pollen to female flowers, the evolution of the plant into a flower and then from the fruit into a seed, and the balance between insects. All you need to do is buy packets of seeds such as "flower mix" or "honey meadow" and scatter them around the city. While walking, you target every little corner of the earth, at the foot of trees, in a park, or even on your balcony. You can also make "flower bombs" by mixing clay, coconut fibers and seeds: you form balls that you let dry and that you can then send far over the fences to see them bloom in the spring. Flowering plants provide nectar and pollen to many pollinating or auxiliary insects, thus attracting aphids, which will attract ladybugs that eat them, as well as bees, but also birds interested in flower seeds such as sunflower seeds. As a bonus: we add an “insect hotel”, a sort of small cabin to shelter them (numerous tutorials on the Internet).

• Planet benefit: contribute to maintaining biodiversity at the local level.
• Child benefit: understanding the essential role of pollinating insects in the plant reproduction chain.

3- Spend a week with the bare essentials

We will explain to children the dangers of overconsumption, that every manufactured object has used resources, polluted the planet, and that it is important to buy fewer products, but better ones. An action that will emphasize all activities that do not involve consumption: going for a walk, drawing, reading stories, finding forgotten toys, emptying the grocery cupboard and the canned goods lying around. It is also an opportunity to realize that everything can wait and to differentiate between desire and need. A 7-day challenge that challenges the whole family.

• Planet benefit: no resources consumed, no pollution generated, no waste produced.
• Child benefit: showing that we are free and that we can free ourselves from consumer society when we feel the need.

4- Create compost

Ideal for learning about food decomposition, creating a compost bin as a family is a fun and useful activity. You can simply pile up organic waste, peelings and leftover meals in a box at the bottom of the garden, but be careful, because insects are attracted. It is recommended to place a mixture of soil, hay and/or grass at the bottom of a large bin and place the waste there, which you regularly cover with plant components (weeds, leaves, soil). The goal? to create a mille-feuille of green and brown matter to obtain a nitrogen/carbon balance necessary for successful composting. This is an opportunity to explain that the soil is enriched by the waste that plants feed on and that compost is an excellent natural fertilizer.

• Benefits for the planet: lighter, smaller and therefore less expensive bins, enriched soil.
• Child benefit: understanding the cycle of nature, returning to the earth.

5- Organize a waste collection

6- Launch an anti-cigarette butt operation

We can collect cigarette butts using the previous example, but with a more militant spirit. Together, we imagine communication media to encourage citizens not to throw their cigarette butts in nature: a leaflet to distribute, make pocket ashtrays, communicate around us, in our street, with shopkeepers, or the town hall to install street ashtrays. Children can also propose a presentation in class to explain that cigarette butts are made of plastic, that they do not biodegrade, that they are harmful when they end up in the sea (1 cigarette butt pollutes 500 L of water) and that they are absorbed by marine animals. Not to mention the damage to human health.

• Benefit for the planet: fewer cigarette butts, less pollution.
• Child benefit: learning to seek information and support a cause, knowing that he can inform adults.

And also:

• Make a toy or piece of furniture from recycled materials and repair a broken object to show that you don't need to buy everything new.
• Identify and refuse plastic: the bag in a store, the industrial product that you can make yourself, etc.
• Start a petition: on a worrying local situation such as an illegal dump, pollution from a company, the fate of animals in the region.
• Save water and energy by turning off lights and faucets, taking half baths or short showers, adjusting the toilet flush tank.

Children are volunteers and always ready to protect nature. If we can teach them to reduce their waste, over-consumption, and show them that we can do a lot of things together...so many seeds for a future that is more respectful of nature and more united.