Mom teaches children the ins and outs of being green

Move over, Dr. Spock.

Modern-day mothers are taking their responsibilities of being role models to their children to a higher level by adopting green parenting practices.

With all the going green hype, it was only a matter of time before parents jumped on the bandwagon to implement planet-wise child-rearing philosophies at home.

Christina Sharp, a Yuma mother of two boys in diapers, was concerned about the environmental impact of all the diapers she had thrown away that are accumulating in the local landfill. She was also disappointed in how much trash her family of four was throwing away every week.

Eliminating the diapers was out of the question, but she thought that even a small change could make a huge difference in the world.

For the past couple of months, the Sharps have been taking their recyclables, along with a few neighbors' recyclables, to the Yuma Recycling Center at 620 E. 20th St.

To transport her recyclables, Sharp uses the box her sons' diapers come in to hold collapsed cardboard food boxes such as cereal, granola bars and pasta. She also puts her newspapers in brown paper grocery bags, and plastic and aluminum cans in plastic grocery bags.

The amount of money the recycling center has paid her for the recyclables has been minimal, she says. Nevertheless she adds the coins to her sons' piggy banks every month as a reward for them helping her sort and organize the recyclables, all while saving the planet.

Sharp said she sleeps much better now that she has been able to reduce her household trash in half by recycling.

She has also been involving her oldest son, Alexander, 3, by teaching him the lyrics to Jack Johnson's "3Rs" song that teaches children how to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Johnson sings, "Well, if you're going to the market to buy some juice/ You've got to bring your own bags and you learn to reduce your waste/ And if your brother or your sister's got some cool clothes/ You could try them on before you buy some more of those ..."

She said recycling is instilling in her children the habit of loving the only planet we have.

"Get your kids involved. Trust me, they all love playing with trash."

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RECYCLING AROUND TOWN

- Yuma Recycling Center - 620 E. 20th St., 783-7381, Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.-1 p.m., closed Sun. Buys No. 1 plastic, aluminum cans, cardboard, newspaper, steel, copper and brass.

- MCAS Yuma - Accepts No. 1 and No. 2 plastic, glass, cardboard, newspaper and aluminum cans.

- ABC Recycling - 1389 S. Arizona Ave., 329-1660. Buys aluminum, brass and copper products.

- Allied Waste - provides curbside recycling to customers for no extra charge in unincorporated areas of Yuma County, 782-1015.