It is fall; the leaves cover the ground in beautiful shades of gold and red. Yet the color that is most prominent lately is “green.” It is the new buzz word, more so since Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on behalf of global warming awareness. His documentary on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth” won an academy award. A taste of what might be ahead of us was experienced just last week.

Thanksgiving for us was a delight since the temperatures allowed for light jackets and the grandchildren running around outside instead of in the house, knocking into their great-grandmother. (I can still move fast enough to get out of the way.) At times like that, I don’t mind having the comfortable air softly blowing through the windows. It brings up a feeling of thankfulness that I can still get out and enjoy the day with the girls, ages 2 and 6, while their 89 years old Mom-Mom watches from the window. We let the children play outside as long as they could, reminding them that soon it would be cold and they may not have many more days like that one. But, then again, the weather doesn’t discourage my granddaughters. It is I who will soon be complaining about the bitter cold, the aching joints, and the miserable icy commute up the Parkway taking longer than the usual torturous traffic jam.

In the fall we plan for the spring. We carefully plant the bulbs, fertilize the grass, and cover the more delicate plantings. As do the seasons change, so does the environment. We must plan to take care of all that we hold dear, our grandchildren, for it is their future that is at stake. We must teach them to think “green.”

“It’s not easy being green.” - Kermit, the Frog

Where to start? Start with the grandchildren joining you in fun environmentally friendly activities integrating the 3 R’s:

Dream Catchers:

• Reuse materials to make a Dream Catcher to keep the nightmares away.
  • “K” and I used an old embroidery hoop I still had from when my fingers were still nimble and my eyes could see the small marks on the fabric.
  • We wrapped ribbon we found in my craft box around the hoop and criss-crossed left over colorful embroidery thread across the hoop, allowing the ends to hang down.
  • To those, we attached feathers that we bought at AC Moore and some beads from an old necklace.

Fun Shaped Crayons

• Recycle broken crayons into fun shaped new ones using candy molds.
  • Using an old pot, melt down broken pieces of crayons.
  • Pour the melted wax into candy molds.
  • Let cool and remove.
  • “K” included them in her birthday goody bags.

Grandmother/Grandchild Shopping Bags

• Reduce plastic bags by using reusable fabric ones.
  • If you sew, recycle fabric from old clothing to make grandmother and grandchildren shopping bags.
  • Together personalize the bags with fabric paints, old buttons, fabric and lace scraps, and anything else you find around the house. Emily (aged 22 mos) decorated our bags with her painted hand prints. Kaitlin used fabric glue to decorate with lace and beads.
  • You can also cut out felt frames and attach to the bag with a picture showing through. The girls’ bags had my picture and my bag had their pictures. That way we would always go shopping together, even when apart.
  • Give them as gifts. They are so much nicer than those horrible plastic bags.

Renew Old Bags to Make New Ones

• Find cloth tote bags hanging around the house or purchase them at garage sales.
  • Wash the bags, then have fun using the same decorating ideas as above.
  • Visit your library’s children’s room and find books about birds native to your area,

Birdfeeders

• Learn what the birds like to eat.
  • Plan together to make two birdfeeders (using household items) based on your new knowledge.
  • Hang them in each of your yards, but be sure it is in a safe place away from predators.
  • Call each other every week to report on the birds that visited.
  • Take pictures and send them through email.

The girls and I are always looking for new activities to do together that will help our environment stay green and prevent global warming. Please share your activities with us. Happy crafting!

Posted by Nana on November 30th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
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