Green Ideas to Make Every Day Earth Day

In this country, we’re all talking green and earth-friendly and protecting our planet one day per year–Earth Day. But what if we could make every day “greener”? So, how can we do it, and as cliche as it sounds, really make a difference for our planet, for our kids, for our city?

Find Where Food Is Sourced

• Join a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program. Look at grocery shopping in a whole new way. CSA programs are a nationwide movement, where a community’s consumers and farmers connect. Local, organic farmers compile a box of fresh, healthy produce; all-natural beef; free range poultry and eggs; flowers; cheese; and more. This is delivered to an established location where enrolled CSA members can pick it up on a regular basis, typically weekly. By subscribing to a CSA program, you’re helping keep your community’s family farms thriving, while getting to eat locally-grown, hence very fresh food higher in nutritional value. Children can benefit from understanding more about where their food comes from, while also learning to add variety to meals with different types of vegetables. The number of CSA programs in the Fort Worth area is growing. A few locally established programs are Elizabeth Anna’s CSA Market, Cold Springs Farm, and R.O.C.K. Co-Op.
• Cold Springs Farm Veggie Van. If you aren’t ready to commit to a CSA subscription but would like to try out the goods, climb aboard the farmer’s market on wheels while it’s parked on Wednesdays from 1:30-2:30 p.m. at Stir Crazy Baked Goods (106 E. Daggett Ave.) or from 4:00-5:15 p.m. at the T&P Lofts (201 W. Lancaster Ave.). The Veggie Van offers heirloom and rare produce, all grown organically on the Weatherford farm. You’ll also find farm-fresh eggs, pastured pork and poultry, Cold Spring Farm raw honey, and grass-fed beef and grass-fed lamb.
• Visit local farms. We have the benefit of living in an area where even urban kids are able to get out and do a little exploring outside the city limits. For example, we picked our own strawberries at Fall Creek Farms (in Granbury), and you should be able to as well through the month of April, or wait until July to pick peaches there.

Get Them Gardening

• Farm Camp at Homestead Farms. Expose kids from ages 2-12 to daily chores that make up life on a farm. The cost is $25/day, and you can email the farm to register for the upcoming spring dates. At Homestead Farms, kids can shop the farm store for fresh food items, plant seeds, tour the farm on a hayride and pet baby chicks and ducks.
• Explore Elizabeth Anna’s Urban Farm. Located off of 8th Avenue, not only is this a CSA market hub, but Elizabeth Anna’s is a sustainable agricultural education center. Outside of the city farm offerings, you’ll find a resource for eco-friendly garden and landscape to help you sustainably beautify your yard. Moms and dads love to bring their kids to Elizabeth Anna’s on days when it’s open to the public. According to the owner,  Elizabeth Anna has created an authentic Old World farm in the city. You and your children can walk the grounds and visit goats; chickens; ducks; the pet goose, Lady; and even composting worms. In addition to small livestock, a plethora of crops, from fruit trees to edible vines, grow there.
• Neighborhood Tree Planting Program. This city-led program gives 25-75 neighbors in any given neighborhood 5-gallon trees of your choice free of charge for planting in the parkway (the grass section between the curb and sidewalk). If this hasn’t already been initiated in your neighborhood, your family may consider spearheading it by volunteering as the designated coordinator with the Forestry Section. The city will then survey and mark optimal planting locations at the enrolled residences and deliver the young trees to the coordinator. We signed up for a Redbud about three years ago, and it’s truly a lovely addition to the curbside.

  

Provide Awareness

• Learn to recycle. One of my son’s favorite household chores is throwing garbage away in the trash can. This Earth Day, even younger kids can be introduced to the concept of the recycling symbol, be shown how to scan a piece of “garbage” for it, and then how to direct those items with the recycle symbol into your home’s recycling bin–one they could even help to decorate. Older children may benefit from some specialized sites like these activities found here to making learning to care for our planet fun.
• Waste Wizard. You can find the answer to any of your questions on what is permitted for recycling by using the Waste Wizard on the City of Fort Worth Recycling site. Honest moment here, I didn’t realize that my blue rolling bin could be used to recycle aerosol cans (without the plastic lid), broken glass of any kind, or plastic eating utensils. An added bonus to this Waste Wizard feature, if you type in something that isn’t eligible for curbsite collection, such as batteries, it will provide you information for the city’s Environmental Collection Center.
• Be air aware. To teach older kids the importance of air quality, show how it applies to them. Air North Texas has an Air Quality Pledge that lists small changes like sharing rides with friends and reducing excess electricity use that help lower omissions from vehicles and power plants, among other sources, and in turn keeps the air cleaner. Kids can also check the current ozone activity to know why you want them to limit prolonged outdoor exposure, particularly on upcoming hot summer days.

What are your favorite local, eco-friendly ideas for loving the Earth every day?