A while ago, I read up on some disturbing impacts of car idling on the environment and decided to join a neighborhood effort to curb unnecessary idling. Our first target was the local school, where parents often idle during pick-up or drop-off time. Sometime, the parents idle up to 10 minutes, emitting car exhaust while other waiting children directly inhale the pollutant.

The group had approached the principal last month and finally she responded last week. The principal was very supportive of our effort and will put our anti-idling brochure in the weekly newsletter. This was a great first step for us. However, to approve and enforce an anti-idling policy, we will need the support of the PTA. So next, we will work on our communication and campaign for PTA support. (The HCES actually offers an anti-idling tool kit to help local campaign efforts.)

On a personal level, I was walking with my daughter right before Thanksgiving and noticed a fellow preschool mom walking towards an idling van. Although a bit apprehensive, I decided to strike up a conversation in attempt to bring up this issue (while our children were admiring each other’s backpacks). During our chat, I casually mentioned how expensive gas has become and how my family tries to conserve by consolidating errands or turning off the car when not needed. I mentioned I read that if the average family cut out 5 minutes of idling per day, they can save over $100 a year in fuel cost. (1) She said she never thought about how the cost of idling and how much it was costing her family. She actually thanked me for the suggestion. Although it was not the environmental epiphany I would like, this will hopefully mean one less car idling in the neighborhood.

(1) http://www.thehcf.org/antiidlingprimer.html

When I look around these days, it seems many teenagers spend the majority of their time on the internet, playing video games, or texting each other. While I have no doubt my 3 and 5 year old daughters will engage in similar activities – soon eclipsing my own internet savvy, Pac-Man proficiency, and digital dexterity – I hope to instill in them a love of nature that will survive through the teenage years into adulthood.

I think many parents assume that their kids won’t find anything to enjoy during a short hike or a stroll in the woods. Given the number of 3-year-olds I see being pushed around in strollers, it seems many parents don’t even think their kids can walk. But give it a try, and your children just might surprise you. Try and see the world as they see it, and you can join in the fun. I recently spent two hours walking around a 12-acre undeveloped area near our house with my two girls.

They immediately gravitated towards “Dirt Mountain”, a four foot high pile of dirt left over from some landscaping maintenance work. I threw the ball for the dog while the girls repeatedly

scaled the imposing peak. I finally lured them away with promises of tree climbing and acorn finding. My younger daughter loves to pick up acorns and drop them in gopher holes. I’m not sure how the gophers feel about this, but in playing this game she’s come up with countless questions that I do my best to answer. What are acorns? Why do they fall? Will they all grow into new trees? What kind of tree makes acorns? Why are there so many gopher holes?

My older daughter has always loved to climb trees. She knew the word “metamorphosis” at the age of 2 because we often saw caterpillars on the tree branches, which would soon spin cocoons and change into moths or butterflies. Today she corrected me

when I saw a cocoon and said there was a caterpillar inside. “Actually, Dad, what’s inside is a chrysalis.” Thanks.

What’s amazing about kids, though, is that they could care less whether you are hiking in the Swiss Alps or rummaging around in your own back yard. They tend to focus on the small and immediate, and they often find unlimited pleasure in the simplest of things: raking leaves and marveling at the multitude of shapes and colors; clearing rain gutters and picking up worms and snails; stomping in puddles. And with all of these activities come an unending deluge of questions, many of which you may actually be able to answer. Kids have an amazing way of seeing the world – they are in a constant state of discovery – and with a suggestion here and a word of explanation there you can turn the local park, or your own back yard, into the greatest toy chest, laboratory, and classroom your child will ever know. And the act of interacting with nature, I think, creates a bond that is mutually nurturing.

Cost of taking them outdoors: $0
Well-round, adventurous, inquisitive, healthy children: Priceless

Cindy from Organicpicks