Reflection Questions and Activities

Reflection activity 1

Having conversations with your family about your use of different resources can bring about changes in your home and lifestyles that will help the earth. Often when you understand WHY something is so important, it helps you change bad habits and make better choices.

Talk with your family about ways you can conserve more energy and resources.

• Do we turn the water off when we are brushing our teeth?
• Do we turn the lights and music off when we are leaving a room?
• Why is it important not to waste water and electricity?

Conserving and reduction are some of the best ways to help the earth and our environment.

• If you find yourself throwing away lots of food, buy less.
• Waste less, use less water.
• Turn off lights when they aren’t in use
• Cut back on the items you buy
• Buy items with no packaging or recycled packaging.

Reflection Questions

• Why is it so important to make good choices?
• How do I show respect for the earth?
• What are things we can do to take care of the earth?

Reflection Activity 2

Read some of these books and web resources as a family and discuss the ideas and following questions together.

Ex. Read Earth Friends at the Grocery Store together as a family and answer the following questions.

• Which packages are more earth-friendly?
• How can we reduce the amount of packaging in land fills?
• What are some things your family already does to be earth-friendly?
• What are some ideas from this book that you had not thought of before?
• What are your favorite suggestions?
• Which suggestions that they give would be most challenging for your family and require the most change?
• What are some habits your family will change to become more earth-friendly?
• What do we mean by each of these words: reduce, reuse, recycle? What is the best for the earth?

Write down the goals you decide on as a family. Set dates for when you want to achieve the goals. Develop new habits by focusing on one at a time until they become part of your family’s system. Big changes come about when lots of people make changes at the grassroots level!

Reflection Activity 3

Do a research project on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Visit the U.S. Department of Energy – Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy website at http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumerinfo/energy_savers/ .

• Why is insulation important for heating and cooling our home?
• What lighting is more energy efficient?
• What forms of energy are sustainable and/or more energy efficient?
• Do we have earth-friendly appliances?
• How much energy do our appliances use?
• How can our family make changes to conserve more energy?