Family Composting
It is our responsibility as parents to teach our children about nature.
Part of that teaching needs to include the life cycle of plants.
A great way to teach kids about plants and their life cycle is to start a home composting project.
Do your kids know what happens to the plants after they die? When you pull the old flower and vegetable plants out of the garden, what do you do with them? If you put them in the garbage, that sends the wrong message to kids.
What you are telling them with your actions is that plant is finished.
There is nothing more it can do.
But that is not true.
Plants can continue to work in the garden even after they are passed their prime.
By starting a family compost bin you can teach kids how plants decay into usable compost that can be reused in the garden.
You can start small, with just a small pile in the corner of the yard or you can start with a large composting project using a bin.
Regardless of how large you plan your composting project to become, make sure you keep the entire family involved in the process.
Assign family members different composting tasks such as keeping it moist, but not soggy.
Someone can be in charge of turning the pile regularly.
You can use a turning fork if you have a pile, or simply spin it if you have a rotating bin.
Help everyone in the family understand what can and can't go into the pile.
Organic waste like plant cuttings, grass clippings, and peeling from fruits and vegetables are things that people are aware of that goes into compost.
But there are some out of the ordinary things that compost well too.
Things such as coffee grounds, egg shells, shredded paper, newspaper - but not shiny ads, are prefect.
Anything that will break down with water, earth and a little time can go into your family compost pile.
A compost project is a great way to teach your kids about nature, the life cycle of a plant, and how to protect the environment through recycling.
Every bit of green waste that you compost is kept out of a landfill.
That is teaching environmental responsibility to your family.
Part of that teaching needs to include the life cycle of plants.
A great way to teach kids about plants and their life cycle is to start a home composting project.
Do your kids know what happens to the plants after they die? When you pull the old flower and vegetable plants out of the garden, what do you do with them? If you put them in the garbage, that sends the wrong message to kids.
What you are telling them with your actions is that plant is finished.
There is nothing more it can do.
But that is not true.
Plants can continue to work in the garden even after they are passed their prime.
By starting a family compost bin you can teach kids how plants decay into usable compost that can be reused in the garden.
You can start small, with just a small pile in the corner of the yard or you can start with a large composting project using a bin.
Regardless of how large you plan your composting project to become, make sure you keep the entire family involved in the process.
Assign family members different composting tasks such as keeping it moist, but not soggy.
Someone can be in charge of turning the pile regularly.
You can use a turning fork if you have a pile, or simply spin it if you have a rotating bin.
Help everyone in the family understand what can and can't go into the pile.
Organic waste like plant cuttings, grass clippings, and peeling from fruits and vegetables are things that people are aware of that goes into compost.
But there are some out of the ordinary things that compost well too.
Things such as coffee grounds, egg shells, shredded paper, newspaper - but not shiny ads, are prefect.
Anything that will break down with water, earth and a little time can go into your family compost pile.
A compost project is a great way to teach your kids about nature, the life cycle of a plant, and how to protect the environment through recycling.
Every bit of green waste that you compost is kept out of a landfill.
That is teaching environmental responsibility to your family.
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