Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Thought tree: A green art project!


While scribbling the ideas for this month’s art project, I started wondering, what is my expectation as an eco-friendly mother from mother’s day?

I counted some ways we all have celebrated this special day always… cakes, flowers, cookies, gifts, clothes, chocolates, greetings, jewelry, dine out, etc.

Well, none of them satisfied my mind. It’s a day to celebrate mothers influence on society and our thoughts and ideas to celebrate are so confined to the not so green and commercial eye.

Aisles everywhere are loaded with tempting ways to satisfy wants and wish for more. It is so disappointing to see the amount of sugar consumed and waste produced by each celebration and I wonder how much of it will be responsibly disposed.

We all celebrate so many occasions throughout the year. Celebrations are so much fun and will always be because they are from us and people around us. They are about getting together, enjoying and cheering and sharing laughter’s. A few hours of glee should add smiles and memories to our lives and not a heaping pile to the landfills.

Every time we have a celebration at home I take it as an opportunity and try to teach my girls about the 5R’s of green living. Recycle, Reduce, Reuse, Responsibility and Reconsider. It’s very challenging at times to convince them to be more creative, less materialistic, think outside the box and care for environment. But, I do believe that educating our kids about the green living is a step forward in raising the child who appreciates and is thankful.

This month’s art project is a thought tree, a simple project which emphasizes on questions we need to ask ourselves every time we are thinking of buying something. They can make such a positive impact on environment and on our budget.

What you will need
• Paper stock
• Construction paper
• Glue
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Markers

Hand tear construction paper and stick it on paper stock in shape of tree using glue. Using markers write the questions.

Well, about the mother’s day celebration we will be celebrating it as a share mom’s chores day. That way, we will have more time sharing the stories from their birth to first steps to first words and everything else.

Wish you all a very happy mother’s day and responsible earth’s day.