Earth-Friendly Kids

"Mom, why don't people love the Earf?" asks my son, Jamin. He holds a bag bulging with the trash that he and his dad have picked up from our street.

"Because we don't teach our children about reverence," I reply. I smile as he tries the word out for the first time, forming his mouth carefully around the sounds. Reverence doesn't just roll off his tongue - it sounds more like wevewence - but the meaning holds true. I respect Jamin's questions by answering with genuine explanations, even if they are difficult to comprehend or pronounce.

In his thought-provoking book Seat of the Soul (Simon & Schuster, 1990), Gary Zukav writes, "Reverence is an attitude of honoring Life. Reverence is also simply the experience of accepting that all Life is, in and of itself, of value." Ah-ha! Reverence was the word I needed to articulate to my son our roles as stewards and caretakers of the Earth.

"Why don't people love the Earf?" My four year old is asking me to explain a confusing and sad reality. I share with him my belief that we let our daily lives become so busy that we are ignorant about where our food comes from, take for granted the aquifers beneath our feet, and ignore the alarming buildup of waste. Useless gadgets intended to make our lives easier merely isolate us further. We trade doing the "right thing" for the easy way out.

"But you can change that," I add.

"How?"he quizzes.

How, indeed? Countless times I've asked myself, "How can I make a difference?" Am I living authentically, in a way that embodies my personal values? Popular opinion appears to be contrary to the truth of what is real and important. We live in a political climate in which our nation's leaders want to destroy a precious ecosystem and cut funding for research into renewable resource technologies. The " American Way " has become synonymous with consumption. I drive by billboards that read, "Happiness is just three miles ahead on the left," and then direct traffic to a shopping mall. When I look at the butt of a bus and see an ad for "Bibsters," the new disposable bib designed for the busy mom, I shake my head and feel physically weighed down. It's more important now than ever before to teach our children, our future decision-makers and leaders, about reverence.

In response to Jamin's question, I began pointing out small things that our family does to show reverence for the Earth. We have a 20-gallon garbage can that the four or us rarely fill each week. One Wednesday afternoon, as we were walking that can down our driveway, I told Jay why I buy products at the co-op that have 'natural packages,' such as fruits and vegetables, or packages that can be recycled.

"Paper, cans, glass, and plastic," he says, accounting for each of the recycling containers.

"Want to know why we use cloth napkins?" He nods. "Where do paper napkins go when they're dirty?"

"Garbage," he responds.

"Where do we put the cloth ones?"

"Washer." He brightens. "And then we use them again!"