Earth Day, Sea Turtles, and the Importance of Why

Earth Day is coming up and I thought I would talk today a little bit about the importance of teaching children about keeping their environment clean both in and outside the home.   I remembered something that happened with my daughter and I wanted to share how it relates.  As parents we tend to, at times, loathe the question "why"?  But in many cases, the question, "why?" is an important one and one we should pay attention to.  

Last year, I brought my children to the Loggerhead Marine Life Center, which is a sea turtle research, rehabilitation, education and conservation center.  The children loved learning about these creatures and more importantly, they learned WHY we should always throw trash away and WHY recycling is so important.  One day, shortly after our visit, my 7-year-old daughter dropped something outside of my car by mistake and picked it up right away to throw it in the trash.  She told me that she wanted to make sure that she picked it up so that it would not end up in the ocean and hurt the sea turtles.  I thought to myself, WOW, that is powerful!  I felt so proud of her.  She related her action to how it affects other things and it made me smile.  My daughter is learning to be a responsible human because she can relate it to why it is important to do so.  

This brings up an important point.  Children love to know WHY we do things.  It is much more effective if a child learns WHY we throw trash away or WHY we should recycle and is much more effective than saying “because I am your mom and I said so!”.  Children respond better when they learn how their actions effect others.  When my coauthor and I wrote our children’s book Tooth Ahoy!: Pirate Pete’s Voyage to Healthy Teeth we wanted to be sure that children learned WHY we should eat more fruits and vegetables and why to brush and floss and our illustrations convey that message.  Parents tell us all of the time that as soon as they are finished reading the book for the first time, the kids are very motivated to go brush their teeth.  Some even remind the kids about Pirate Pete and use that as motivation to get them to eat their fruits and vegetables.  

When we were writing our book, we also learned a lesson and a very big WHY.  It was WHY we should think about changing our plastic toothbrushes to bamboo ones.   During the process of writing the book,  we came across a company called WooBamboo and discovered that bamboo toothbrushes are much more environmentally friendly than the traditional plastic ones.  In fact, they are 95% biodegradable.   I learned a lot about what an impact we can have by just changing our toothbrush to a bamboo toothbrush! 

Check out this video:

Once I learned the why, I realized what this small change could do if everyone made it.  Have you ever thought about all of the toothbrushes you have ever used in your life and how they still exist somewhere on the planet?  I know I didn’t! Education is the first step to making a positive difference.  Once we know the why, it is easy to take a step in the right direction.  This is an important why, one that will affect our children and generations after them.  Everyone has the power to make a small change and when all of those small changes add up, it can make a huge difference.  

WooBamboo has toothbrushes that cost the same or less than the plastic ones for adults, teens, children and even pets!  After realizing how many free plastic toothbrushes I have received from dental offices, I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if every dentist gave away bamboo toothbrushes instead of plastic ones?  That alone would be huge! 

Check out this dentist who chose to make a positive change for his paients: 

My entire family now uses bamboo toothbrushes now that I know WHY.

Now that you know why, would you like bamboo or plastic?