Top Tips for a Sustainable 2022

Many families want to make environmentally-friendly choices, but we know it can be difficult to include sustainable practices as part of a busy family life.

Getting your children involved and working as a family to make earth-friendly choices can help them learn how to respect the planet to protect their future, plus you can make it a fun family activity too. With the New Year underway, it’s a great time to set yourself your sustainable goals for 2022. 

A smart way to think about your earth-friendly choices is to use the 3R’s - reduce, reuse, recycle - reduce waste, reuse items rather than buy new and recycle wherever possible. 

We’ve put together 8 Top Tips for a sustainable 2022 that you can tackle as a family….

1. Turn off the lights

Teaching your children the importance of conserving energy can be a really simple thing you can do. Getting them to always be aware of turning off lights and their electronics when they’re not in use is a great habit to get used to. Trying to use natural light in your home as often as possible and upgrading to LED lights can save pennies as well as helping the planet.Use reusable water bottles and travel mug.

2. Use reusable water bottles and travel mugs

Invest in reusable drink containers as a family instead of buying plastic water bottles to reduce your consumption of single-use plastic. There’s some really funky designs that you can enjoy picking out together, which will help encourage your little ones to re-use their favourite bottle. Set an example by always using travel mugs for your hot drinks on the school run - you often get discounts at some coffee shops for taking your mug in!

3. Get the bikes out or stretch your legs

Being aware of reducing your carbon footprint is a great thing you can do for the environment, plus it's a great way to stay fit and healthy as a family. Look for as many opportunities as you can to walk or cycle; the school run, popping into town…. find fun routes you can take to do these journeys without the car and teach your children that jumping in the car for a quick trip isn’t always necessary.

4. Grow your own food

Creating a family garden where you can grow your own food is great for teaching your children about where their food comes from and the value of growing your own. It can be a really interactive family activity, and your little ones can help at every stage - from planning what to plant, to watering and harvesting.

When you can, shop as local as possible - farm shops support lots of local produce and are often more interesting for children to explore than a regular supermarket.

5. Shop for clothes responsibility

As a family, choose to purchase durable clothes from sustainable sources that will last. Here at MyTwirl we make the highest quality dresses and coats for your children from premium fabrics that will survive lots of play, parties and washing!

Considerable care is taken by our talented artisans to create wonderful garments that last and can be passed down through your children. Our timeless dress designs means that they will always be in fashion. Reuse clothing where possible; shop secondhand and try to stay away from fast fashion brands when buying new.

6. Recycle & compost as a family

Set up a family recycling station in your home and teach your children how to identify recycling symbols and make it a habit - it can become a fun game to quiz them on. If you have a compost bin in the garden, or if your local authority collects it, get them involved with sorting out the food waste too - sustainability and a science lesson all in one!

7. Avoid single-use plastics

Teach your children to make the best choices when purchasing items. Educate them on alternative options with less packaging on things like juice boxes and fruit snacks. Get them used to taking reusable bags to the shops and not using plastic bags - choosing a cool reusable bag each to take shopping can be fun and will make them feel grown up and part of the task.

8. Plan meals with sustainability in mind

We all know as a nation we need to think more carefully about our consumption of certain foods and the effect on the planet. Creating habits such as ‘Meat Free Mondays’ will teach your children about how it’s important to be aware of having a balanced varied diet and that cutting down on the meat you consume is a good move for the planet.

We hope these top tips on sustainability have been helpful in setting out your family goals for 2022. We all have a duty to look after the environment and make the best choices we can for our children's future on this planet - good luck and enjoy your families sustainability journey :-)