We are blessed to live in a neighborhood with several beautiful parks within walking distance. At least once a week, the boys and I load up the wagon and head down the street to play and explore. Like any young boy, Buddy loves to collect leaves and sticks. We always have a lot of fun.
The downside to these outings is always the amount of litter and trash that we see while we are exploring. It is very important to me to raise my children be responsible and clean up after themselves. Buddy already does a great job of throwing away his trash and placing items into our recycling bin, although he still does need to be reminded occasionally. Unfortunately, not all children (or adults) have been taught these habits, which result in empty soda bottles in the creek and candy wrappers among the leaves.
I have decided to add a new element to our weekly nature exploration in the form of trash clean up. Using a plastic "grabber toy" from Target, we will pick up a few pieces of trash off the ground and place them in the park trash cans.
No, I am not going to make my children clean the entire park. But picking up a few pieces of trash each week will be my way of teaching the boys that we can do our part to help keep the earth clean, and therefore be good stewards over God's creation. I even made up a little song to make it more fun...
(To the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat")
God made this beautiful earth
And gave it to you and me
He wants us to take good care of it
So let's keep it nice and clean
Hopefully, while we are picking up trash at the park, another child or adult will see us and be reminded to properly dispose of their own. Then "our part" just got a little bit bigger.
Always,
Amanda
