Talking to our kids about the climate crisis – The Sustainable(ish) Online Festival 2020 – A Festival of Sustainable Living

The Sustainable(ish) Online Festival 2020 was an online celebration of all things Sustainable(ish) held during May 2020.
The festival was host to 40 talks providing a source of inspiration for anyone wanting to try and live a more sustainable life and reduce their impact on the planet, and it was bloody brilliant to see so much enthusiasm for all things Sustainable(ish) and the wonderful community that came together in a virtual campsite to support each other and take action for the health of the planet. 

When it comes to the climate crisis, when we've got kids we often worry about how we talk to them about it without freaking them out, as well as how we can engage them and get them on board with the changes we're making.
In this session Anya Hart-Dyke joins us to discuss these questions and more.

Anya Hart-Dyke has worked in sustainability for 10 years, and her children are nearly 3 and 6. Through trial and error she has been trying to engage her eldest on the importance of setting what she calls 'planetary' boundaries. This has meant rules around how much we buy (e.g. minimizing gifts, buying 2nd hand clothes/toys, lending/borrowing toys and games with friends, making energy balls instead of buying individually wrapped snack bars), what they buy (e.g. no toy-filled children's mags, single-use plastic crafts/pens, seasonal fruit and veg), and what they throw away (mending clothes, usefully repurposing packaging they can't avoid, fixing/repairing things, coming up with new recipes to cut down on avoidable food waste).
Anya finds the challenge is how to explain, in a meaningful way, why this is all so important. She thinks that if she doesn't understand the why of it all, she won't retain these good habits into adulthood.As with all things sustainable, longer-term thinking is needed and this of course includes raising the next generation to consume mindfully. Anya thinks teaching children about the importance of living sustainably is as important as teaching them to eat well, and how to socialise and treat others with respect. She would love to share with you what she has been trying to do at home with her kids and to hear what anyone else has tried.
Find out more about Anya's work on her website.