My mother has recycled ever since I can remember. I have a vivid memory of her haranguing my dad’s family about recycling on a group vacation. She actually picked aluminum cans out of the trash while griping about landfills and started a special recycle spot in the condo. I’m sure everyone thought she was insane, but now I am pretty much the same way with recycling whatever I can.

This year, April 22 marks 45 years since Earth Day became an official movement, and I enjoy teaching my own kids why we have Earth Day and how we can better care for our planet. Maya Angelou said, “When we know better, we do better,” so a big step in doing better for the Earth is being aware of choices and appreciating where we live while making it a better place. Earth Day is a great opportunity to teach some great lessons to your kids.

Earth Day Lesson #1: Stand up for what you believe in. We laugh about the story of my mom on vacation, but we are proud of her for standing up for the Earth even when she was seen as strange and picky.

Earth Day Lesson #2: You can have an idea and put it into action with a lot of hard work. Earth Day was born from the mind of a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin who was outraged about a 1969 oil spill in California. He saw all the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations and hoped he could channel that kind of energy instead into caring about the environment. With a lot of help, he made it happen.

Earth Day Lesson #3: Look around and pay attention and don’t settle for doing things the way they have always been done. The idea of caring for the Earth was widely promoted and the result was 20 million Americans standing up for the rights of the environment and protesting the mistreatment of it. Up until that point, most people were not thinking much about smog, oil spills, pesticides, what was happening with nuclear byproducts, what kind of damage driving our cars was doing, and so much more. Raising awareness of these problems started to incrementally change everything. Earth Day 1990 is what gave that big push toward recycling and the result is seeing a huge recycling bin at the end of practically every driveway in America.

Earth Day Lesson #4: Sometimes doing worthwhile things is not easy. Recycling can be a pain one day, but then the next day you buy a product that is made from 100% recycled materials and you see that what you are doing really does make a difference.

Earth Day Lesson #5: It doesn’t just have to be about bottles and cans and cardboard. You can recycle clothing by donating to thrift stores. The Natural Resources Defense Council says that “the average American now discards 68 pounds of clothing a year, wasting energy, water and landfill space.” Composting, refilling used ink cartridges, cloth diapering, reusing shopping bags or using cloth instead and community gardening are just a few more ideas … there are so many more!

Of course there are terrific books on Earth Day that you should check out for your kids, and there are wonderful crafts you can find as well. While reading these books and doing these crafts, why not take a few moments to impart some deeper lessons too? Happy Earth Day!

Kerrie McLoughlin is the homeschooling mom of 5 who enjoys EarthDay and blogs at TheKerrieShow.com.

I don’t really know how I discovered acting. Maybe it was the class trip in elementary school to see a stage version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, or maybe it was through my parents, who told me that the people in movies and on TV are called actors. However, when I discovered acting at eight years old, I knew that it was something I wanted to do.

From home to the stage

I watched my favorite movies over and over again, and then memorized my favorite scenes so that I could recreate them with my neighborhood friend, little brother, and two year old sister. We would turn our living room into a theater, and usher my parents to their seats on the couch and then we would perform our show. So perhaps out my excitement for for acting, or simply out of sheer annoyance that they had to watch the same play over and over again, my parents decided to get me involved in theater.

I remember my first audition for a local theater company here in Toledo. It was my favorite movie, and one in my repertoire of living room shows, Alice in Wonderland. The group was looking for a large children’s chorus, and planned to cast adults as the lead roles. Being the excited and driven child that I was, I decided I wanted only to be one of the lead roles, and understandably did not get cast. I was devastated. Realizing that I had no idea how theater actually worked, a friend of the family suggested my parents sign me up for a local summer theater day camp, and from that point on I spent just about every childhood summer there.

More than just summer camp

Camp taught me the basics of acting, and I was introduced to all aspects of theater. Before theater camp, I had no idea how much work went into making a production. Having the opportunity to help write a script, build, paint, and design the set, create costumes, learn how to do my own make-up, and act in front of a real audience (no offense mom and dad), was incredibly exciting. But these camp did not just teach me about theater, it also taught me about myself.

Summer theater camp taught me confidence. I was always a bit shy when I was in school, but I found theater to be a way to express myself. There was a type of comfort being around a group of kids who were just like me. I could be myself without fear of not being accepted.

Working with a group of kids my own age was not only fun, but also showed me the importance of teamwork. I understood the importance of everyone’s role in putting on a show, and camp taught me a greater sense of respect toward others.

And then there was rejection; a skill that no kid wants to learn or experience, but, a skill that ultimately leads to a stronger and more determined person. Like in sports, theater can have an enormous amount of disappointment and rejection. Every kid in theater experiences this at some point. The nice thing about camp was that anyone who wanted a role was given some sort of part in the show. However, there were a lot of kids and only a limited amount of “big” roles. So naturally, many kids did not get the parts they wanted. Looking back at this, it was probably one of the best things that could happen. It taught me that life isn’t always fair.

You can work hard and still not get what you want, but that just taught me to work even harder. Theater instilled skills in me that have been beneficial for school, work, and in society. And even more than that, theater camp helped develop an interest and passion for theater that has lasted my entire life. I may not have always gotten the roles I wanted, but I got something better; knowledge, perseverance, friends, and memories that have lasted many years.