One of the times when we damage the environment most is when we head outside for a day out. It’s then that we may well find ourselves driving a lot, going to the cinema or a theme park, or eating lavish meals. They’re expensive ways to enjoy ourselves, and they high in energy consumption too. Finding green alternatives for ways to enjoy yourself as a family is one of the best ways to teach your children about going green, one of the best ways to help keep your bills and your carbon footprint to a minimum. Here then we will look at some ideas for green days out that can be just as fun for the whole family, while at the same time helping you go green.
A Picnic: A picnic is a perfect way of going green. This is just as fun as going for a meal out and in some ways even more so as you get to enjoy complete privacy and a more interesting atmosphere. Of course it’s also perfect for going green as you’re not contributing to a restaurant’s energy bills.
Rowing: There are many cities and towns that have facilities for going rowing and this is a great leisure activity that is also perfect for going green. If you can find somewhere to row then this gives you something that is great exercise (especially for the lats and shoulders) and also will help you to feel more connected with nature.
Bike Ride: A bike ride is a perfect family day out that’s great for exercising and completely free as well as helping you go green. This can be a family day out in itself or it can be a way to get to one of the other activities.
Museums: It means going indoors, but if the subject of the museum is geography, or going green, then you can use what you learn here to tell your children about the environment and why it’s so important to protect it. Museums themselves are also relatively efficient in that they provide entertainment for large groups of people in a single building. Some are free too.
Camping: Camping is not just a perfect going green day out for the family, but also a great weekend. It’s perfect for bonding with your family, it eschews the modern conveniences that use up so much energy, and it teaches you about living off and with the land.
Fishing: Fishing is another great way to teach children about going green and helps you to participate directly with nature. This way you will be able to tell your children again about the importance of going green, but you will also be able to avoid using any energy in getting there. To drive the lesson home you can also fish in over-populated areas or be sure to throw the fish back in after catching them.