“Going green” is big these days and getting bigger by the second. One commonly overlooked aspect to living green is the potential amount of weight you can lose if you do things right. How? Why? Check it out and share this information with your child.
1. Being green means saying no to fast food. Fast food contributes to the demise of the planet in a few different ways. The amount of trash from a typical fast food meal is huge. It may not seem like much at the time, but go one week without bringing fast food home and take note of how often the trash can fills up! Fast food also contributes to our gluttonous need for beef. Excessive consumption of beef means the need for more and more cattle and more and more land use. More land use means stripping rain forests in some cases. More cattle means more cattle gas, which contain methane gas that can pollute the atmosphere.
2. Being green means buying organic. Organic produce and meats are more nutritious and tastier to boot. You need less of each to get the same amount of nutrients which means eating less which is also very, very green. Less consumption means less land use. (I’ll spare you by not repeating the cow fart scenario) No chemicals, no pesticides, no growth hormones, no herbicides… just plain better for you and the environment!
3. Being green means walking or riding your bike whenever possible. I didn’t say whenever convenient, I said whenever possible! A big part of our obesity crisis is the simple fact that we’ve become accustomed to a plethora of modern conveniences! A big part of our economic problem is our dependence on overseas oil. Stomp out both problems and start walking or biking!
4. Being green means turning off the TV. Television use contributes to the greenhouse gasses that are harming the planet. Just watching a few less hours per day can help limit the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted which means you and your family are making a positive impact on the environment. Now, get the kids to go outside and play with the neighbors’ kids and those neighbors’ neighbors’ etc… Multiply all of those households that are watching a few less hours per day and the positive effect on the environment just got a lot bigger! What’s more? Your kids are outside playing, running, getting fresh air and improving their health! Another win/win!
Hopefully these suggestions inspire you and your kids to jump on the green train and head towards healthy. If your kids need more inspiration or the problem is larger than a bit of effort a week, you may consider a fitness or weight loss camp for your kids. The counselors and educators at kid friendly weight loss and fitness camps can help inspire you and your child to make positive changes!
