In my opinion, moms think about the future more than most people. From buying things before our babies are born, to saving for college and thinking about their future, these thoughts are always on the brain. One thing that I stress over is the future of our area. We all know that Hampton Roads is in the sea level rise zone. We saw the danger at the Hermitage's exhibit. Nauticus has warned us about the plastic, and Botanical Gardens has echoed that. But going from the "knowing" to the "acting" can be hard. The gray area in the imagination is the hardest area to break through. We have all had those thoughts - it would be great to be like the Pinterest mom who makes the baby food from scratch, but when it comes to the action, we get stuck. We just don't have the time or maybe the knowledge. But here's the thing... we don't have to each do it all. If each family does a little, it has an even bigger impact. Here are four small tweaks where each of us can make a big impact.
01. Compost! RT's pre-school class was super into composting at school, and he was fascinated by it. He even requested that we start doing it at home too. I've learned a lot through the process. I had no idea that food in landfills didn't decompose. I was hesitant because I didn't want our back yard to smell, but I am happy to report that it doesn't smell when the composter vent is closed. Our process now is to keep a bag of scraps in the freezer until it's full, then dump it in. We snagged this composter and have been happy so far. 02. Show kids you vote. Something as small as voting can allow other people to do the work for us.Take those kiddos into the voting booth with you, show them the voting process, and explain to them why you voted the way you did. Bonus points- you'll both get a sticker for the selfie!
03. Volunteer. Several places in Hampton Roads participate in Clean The Bay Day (now a week!) Kids need to learn kinesthetically, meaning moving and taking part in things. Seeing the trash that people have thrown out will leave a lasting impression on them not to do the same.
04. Leave it better than you found it. It seems so simple, but pick up a few pieces of trash if you see them while you're out. If everyone picked up just three pieces, imagine how much cleaner Hampton Roads would be. Make Hampton Roads more beautiful!
