Want to convince your parents to live sustainably? Great! Then you've come to the right place. Young people can learn a lot from their parents and grandparents - and vice versa! Our Grandparent generations are even role models when it comes to sustainability for young people! Because in the past, there was no plastic, no energy-guzzling smartphones - and you couldn't fly to the other side of the world on vacation either. But sometimes the sensitive generation gap becomes apparent when you visit your own family. For example, because your parents have habits that you no longer consider desirable as a young person. When different views clash, arguments are inevitable - but they are also absolutely avoidable!
In this article, I would therefore like to give you 10 valuable tips that you can use to give your parents or older siblings a sustainable life - and lifestyles such as veganism, vegetarianism, zero waste or minimalism - without being annoying!
Here is in advance a small Overview for you:
- Shopping together
- Cook together
- Casually share insights from your own everyday life
- Give away sustainability
- Watch a documentary together
- Show pictures of your engagement
- Find simple entry topics
- Raising awareness of how children benefit from sustainability
- Collecting garbage together
- Simple Challenge to start
Important: Please do not feel personally offended by the content of this article. Of course there are also older people who act very sustainably and young people who couldn't care less about the environment. This is not about blaming the older generation, but about overcoming the challenges of our time together.
10 tips to get your parents excited about environmental protection and sustainability
People are different. Some are open to change - others love consistency. And some absorb the knowledge of others - while others prefer to stick to their usual views and standpoints. Accordingly, you also need a A healthy dose of empathy if you want to get your family excited about sustainability.
Don't start arguments and show respect at all times. Never say that a view is wrong. We humans all crave validation to a certain extent and don't like to be reprimanded. Especially not from our own children. Try to put yourself in your parents' shoes and convince them slowly and steadily. Perhaps in the same way that you would like to be convinced yourself.
Here are the 10 tips we promised you that you can use to teach your parents about sustainability.
1. shopping together
When my mother heard that my brother and I were now vegan dietIt was a shock for her at first. She simply did not know what to cook in the future. Only salad left? Then we went shopping together and her worries disappeared. She then had a feel for which foods are vegan and where to find them in the supermarket. And now almond milk, for example, is a permanent guest in the fridge.
Further contributions:
2. cook together
Get your family excited about sustainability while cooking or at the dinner table! Definitely! That is my firm conviction, based on my experiences with my parents and parents-in-law. What speaks against a meal prepared with love? Lasagna with vegetable mince or a Bread dumplings in a mushroom sauce with vegan cream? If your parents are allergic to the word "vegan", you can simply prepare the plant-based alternatives and only explain to them after the meal that the minced meat was not made from animal meat. In the best case scenario, they will have already said that it tastes great 🙂
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Tip: Feel free to offer to cook alone and spoil your parents as a small thank you! This will automatically make them more willing to try something new and not take the suggestion the wrong way.
3. casually sharing insights from their own everyday life
What are your plans for today? How was your weekend? Whether you're visiting your parents or having a weekly phone call: questions like these are a real door opener to inspire your family members to live a more environmentally friendly life. Take the opportunity, for example, to talk about your latest vegan cooking activity, your visit to a demonstration to meet climate targets or your adventurous bike ride in the countryside. Positive change can be so simple and beautiful - especially if you talk about it with enthusiasm.
4. give away sustainability
Is your mother or father's birthday coming up? Is Christmas just around the corner? Or do you just want to say thank you to your parents again? Such days and moments are idealto give the gift of an environmentally friendly product - or something that makes life even more sustainable! For example, how about a reusable CoffeeToGo mugwaste-avoiding Fruit and vegetable nets or one of many worth reading Books about sustainability? Let your imagination run wild.
Tip: Look you with pleasure in the Sustainability Shop from CareElite around to get you further inspired!
5. watch a documentary together
Everyone knows it: you see a movie or a documentary that opens your eyes to the Environmental problems of our time or a certain grievance in our society. And of course you can also inspire your parents to live sustainably in the same way. Simply suggest watching a documentary together to think outside the box and learn something new. Alternatively, you can simply suggest a movie to them or give them a date when an interesting feature will be broadcast.
Further contributions:
- Documentaries about sustainability
- The best plastic waste documentaries
- Documentaries about factory farming and veganism
6. show pictures of your engagement
You have once again Picked up garbage with others while jogging or taken part in an animal rights demonstration? Then don't be afraid to tell your parents about it or send them a picture of your action via Messenger. They are sure to show an interest - and open up a Opportunity to explain why you are so committed to them. How to get your family excited about sustainability!
7. Simple entry topics and motivators Benefits
As already mentioned: everyone is different! If you can put yourself in your parents' shoes, you will certainly be able to think of a few topics that they deal with on a daily basis and where they might find it easier to find motivation and access to sustainability. For us, for example, these were the following areas Garden, household and Nutrition. My mother has her garden has since been redesigned so that it now hosts dozens of different bird species. is now home to us. It makes us very proud that she dared to make this change!
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8. make them aware that they are also living sustainably for their children and grandchildren
Want to get your family excited about sustainability? A real change in life does not need only the HOW, but always also the WHY before eyes! When your parents live more sustainably, they are not just doing it for their own health, environmental or animal ethics reasons. No. They are also doing it for you - and for your grandchildren and all the generations to come who may live on this planet in the future. I believe that it is extremely beneficial to make your parents aware of this - and to awaken additional protective instincts, so to speak.
Further contributions:
9. collect garbage together
Plastic waste in the environment is one of the greatest ecological challenges facing mankind. We are the problem - but we can also be the solution! How about getting your parents excited about sustainability on a walk together, where you can simply have some tongs and bags with you and collect garbage from nature? It's really a lot of fun, extremely calming and will automatically add more karma points.
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10. propose them a Simple Challenge
If you're not staying with your parents, you'll probably be leaving soon. Before that happens, you can challenge them with a little challenge to try new things and live a little more sustainably. For example, the master your next plastic-free shopping trip or itself eat a plant-based diet for a week. Depending on your parents' character type, however, it may be important that these challenges are more fun and less pressure to change.
Book Tip: In my book "Living Sustainably - The Challenge" you'll find dozens of these little challenges that your parents can complete whenever they feel like it. If you like, you get it here*.
Inspiring families for sustainability - it can be done without stress!
I hope that I can help you with the tips in this article to make sustainable living more palatable for your parents and other family members. To ensure that this works without annoying discussions and arguments, you should always show empathy, respect and appreciation. Because the Changing habits is difficult for most people.
At this point I would also like to praise both my mother and my mother-in-law for always being open to our adapted attitudes to life and for also initiating a change in their lives!
Do you have any questions or suggestions about this article on parents and sustainability? Then, as always, feel free to write me a comment.
Stay sustainable,
PS.: In the sustainable family blog you will find more valuable tips! Learn, for example, whether it makes sense, simply not having children at all for ecological reasons.
