My kids were more eco-friendly than me. They pushed me to go green.

Captain Planet taught me to save the Earth in the 1990s, but it turns out his advice was pretty worthless. As a kid, I was taught that recycling — just recycling — would protect the planet. Sure, I learned all three R’s: Reduce, reuse , recycle; but my only job was recycling.

Luckily, Gen A is getting a better perspective, and my 3 and 7-year-old kids are pulling me into the new world of environmental protection. When my daughter was in preschool, we played a clean-up game on the iPad together. We looked at an object and sorted it into the correct bin: trash, recycle, reuse, compost.

I was surprised to see the word “compost,” which was not in my ’90s vocabulary, but any adult can figure out a preschool game, right? When a milk carton popped up on the screen, I told her “Recycle it!” She dragged the carton to the recycling bin. “Wrong!” The game said, “save it for a craft. ” At that moment, I knew a lot had changed, and rightly so.

The mindset of “do your part, recycling is smart,” misleads us into believing that recycling alone is enough. In reality, more than 90% of recycling ends up in landfills , rather than being converted to new material. Now in second grade, my daughter has learned modern eco-friendly practices from school, television, games, and songs.

She’d like to reuse every bottle, can, and carton for crafts. Wanting to encourage her, I picked up a book on crafting with recycled materials . We don’t save everything, but she tipped us in the right direction.

While environmental education and media help, letting kids be kids may be equally as effective. Kids naturally care about the environment , but indoor lifestyles and parental fears damage that trait. Most American children play outside for only four to seven minutes per day.

Researchers found that the spread of television and video games aligns with the decline in outdoor time. Also, today’s parents worry more about unsupervised play than previous generations, so letting kids stay inside on screens feels safe. At 3 years old, my son’s natural connection to the earth is still strong.

One day while walking to the library, he pointed to a soda bottle on the ground. “Mom, why did someone leave their bottle?” he said, bending to pick it up. “We need to recycle it.

” “Wait!” I yelled as my inner germaphobe took over. I didn’t want him to touch a dirty bottle. I made up an excuse and rushed him away from the trash.

That moment bugged me for weeks. I knew I handled it incorrectly, so I decided to ditch my excuses. I stocked up on biodegradable gloves and hand sanitizer.

I put the gear in my car so we can clean at the playground or wherever inspiration strikes. My kids make it fun by trying to win the fullest bag, most interesting find, etc. As we spent more time outside, we discovered more eco-friendly crafts and games.

Now, we feed the birds and plant a vegetable garden every year. We’re using the world around us as our palette and less store-bought material. I’ve found my kids have more fun using their imagination instead of toys anyway.

Honestly, I’m still not a shining star of sustainability, but I’m trying harder and letting go of excuses. Now, thanks to my kids, we craft with cartons, dig in the dirt, and most importantly, clean up a bottle from the sidewalk. .