Whether they’re in high school, college, or the lower grades, kids can change a lot of things when at home for the long holiday break. Especially at the start of 2020 which saw all academic institutions close down to minimize the spread of the coronavirus, many parents usually have a hard time ensuring their kids stay disciplined while at home. It’s also during these times that energy bills skyrocket as everyone spends more time indoors. But in the current world that we live in, conserving energy has been a huge matter of concern, with every country encouraging their citizens to adopt measures that help reduce energy usage and live a greener lifestyle.
Now, the essence of this is not always clear to kids, but they should learn how to protect the environment at an early age. After all, they are the leaders and citizens of tomorrow and if they don’t learn to conserve energy at their early stages, the world can be a very chaotic place in their time as adults or for their kids. For this reason, parents have a huge responsibility to educate their children about being watchful about energy consumption.
Here are some things you should tell your children about reducing energy usage.
Reducing Energy Usage Protects the Environment
The process of energy generation has various impacts on the environment. This is because more often than not, it utilizes limited natural resources, leads to the emission of ozone-depleting gases to the atmosphere, and affects various ecosystems. All these factors together affect the environment by causing climate change, a rise in temperature, a rise in sea levels, increased natural disasters, and unusual weather patterns.
As a responsible homeowner, it’s only wise to let your kids know that by reducing energy usage, they are indeed protecting the environment. It’s even best to lead by example and choose energy supplies that utilize environmentally friendly ways to generate energy. According to the guys at Energy Seek, comparing energy suppliers side by side can help you choose an option that is affordable and most convenient for you. By so doing, you will not only be saving money from your energy bills, but you will also be protecting the environment, thus leading by example.
As you educate them about the importance of reducing energy usage to the environment, some things you’ll want to tell your kids include the following pointers.
Don’t Spend Too Much Time in The Shower
Hot showers are among the biggest energy consumers in the home. Especially in the summer months of the year, a lot of water is used in taking showers, and kids are common culprits when it comes to taking longer showers than usual. If you’re taking long hot showers, this means that in addition to consuming a lot of water, a lot of energy is used to heat up the water. Simply tell your kids to avoid taking long showers and if possible, install a bathroom timer and encourage them to set it at 5 minutes at most to reduce energy usage and water wastage.
Natural Light Is More Beneficial to Your Health
Yes, this is definitely something your kids should know. From supplying a good dose of vitamin D to fighting depression, improving sleep, and boosting mood, the health benefits of natural light are numerous. By encouraging them to open the window curtains for natural sunlight to enter the house during the day, they’ll avoid keeping the lights on and this will translate into energy savings.
Turn Off Things You’re Not Using
When at home, kids will often be obsessed with watching TV, playing video games, and socializing with friends through their iPads or smartphones. All these things lead to an increase in energy use whenever your kids are around. While you don’t want to deny them their playtime, it’s important to encourage them to switch off any device they’re not using so they can save energy. To enforce this, you can incentivize a measure such as reducing their screen time by 30 minutes or so to make it stick in their heads.
Teach Them to Turn Down the Thermostat
Heating and cooling are another huge energy consumer in the home, especially during the warmer and colder months of the year. To minimize electricity bills from heating and cooling, it’s wise to teach your kids how to turn the thermostat down when going out. In addition to this, encourage them to keep the doors closed so your HVAC unit doesn’t end up working harder and consuming more energy to keep your home cool or warm. You can also go for an automatic programmable thermostat, which is designed to automatically adjust depending on whether or not there’s someone home. Some will even estimate how long it takes to get your home back to the optimal temperature so you can find it comfortable when you get back home.
Always Close the Fridge Door
Kids love the refrigerator. It’s where they get their delicious stuff such as ice-creams, milk, juices, and so forth. However, most of them forget to close the fridge door when they pick what they need, and this increases the appliance’s energy consumption. Tell your kids to always close the refrigerator door after picking what they need.
Electricity is one of the most annoying recurrent bills. If you’re not watchful about your energy usage, you could end up shelling hundreds of dollars each month to pay your energy bills, not forgetting that this isn’t environmentally friendly. With the above tips, however, you can ensure that your kids are part and parcel of your attempts to keep your energy usage as low as it can get.