Kids need to learn from the very beginning how important and how magical nature is.

A beautiful part of nature is the creatures that live in it. Teach kids to love animals, care for them and protect their environments.

Some years ago, I adopted a rescue animal. An adorable dog I named Chewbacca (Chewy for short). I now have four dogs. Many years ago I worked with the BBC to raise awareness about the wild animals in
the Serengeti and their security. There is a lot one can do.

I have a page on Facebook called “Dogs, Cats, Creatures, Conservation and Environment.” Please feel free to follow it.

There are plenty of places in nature children can come across animals. I am not a fan of zoos. I see no reason an animal should be behind bars and not in its natural habitat unless it is for rehabilitation purposes. I am not a fan of animals in circuses either. I do not believe animals should be used for entertainment. (Although I do admit, I did enjoy the “Lassie” movie series. Dogs are exceptional aren’t they? I guess you could say there are a few things that are an exception if they’re done ethically).

Nonetheless, other than the great outdoors, there is also the Tanzania Animal Welfare Society (TAWESO) that wonderfully provides field trip visits, education and the chance to take in an animal. Here are also some websites one can utilize to teach kids about animals and nature:

• Nat Geo for Kids: www.kids.nationalgeographic.com
• Switcheroo Zoo: www.switcheroozoo.com

How wonderfully environmentally friendly and uplifting that is! Now you can get all manner of paper, such as wrapping and coffee cups, that is biodegradable and embedded with seeds.

This innovative product is unfortunately not yet available in Tanzania but here is a list of 20 practical ways you can help save the environment:

1. Use reusable bags: A wonderful new development in Tanzania has been the banning of plastic bags and where ever you are in the world it is a good idea to opt for reusable, biodegradable bags.
2. Use reusable beverage containers.
3. Buy a water bottle: You can always refill your own water bottle and will not have to buy plastic bottles frequently.
4. Invest in a filter: By boiling water and using a filter you can avoid using plastic containers and it is in fact more convenient as well as economical.
5. Save water: e.g. Try not to leave a tap running.
6. Save electricity: e.g. Switch off the lights if you are not using a room.
7. Avoid using cars or carpool (share transport).
8. Recycle.
9. Use organic trash as compost.
10. Do not litter.
11. Print less if you can.
12. Use both sides of a page: When writing on paper, try to make full  use of a page in order not to waste paper.
13. Choose products that are eco-friendly: By examining the label on a product you can find out whether it is environmentally friendly or not.
14. Use energy efficient light bulbs.
15. Use rechargeable batteries.
16. Try to keep the use of air conditioners to a minimum if you have to use them at all. Also make sure all windows and doors are firmly closed when the air conditioner is on.
17. Never leave the fridge/freezer door open when the refrigerator is on.
18. Put recycling bins in your home, office, school, etc.
19. Plant a tree or more!
20. Be kind to animals. You can even adopt an animal from a local animal shelter and take good care of it.

BY: Pat Byington

Below we share the stories of 12 women and explore their contributions to making a greener and healthier world. And, if you’d like to learn more about any of the featured women or introduce them to children and teens, after each profile we’ve shared several reading recommendations for different age groups, as well as other resources that celebrate these remarkable women.

For many books for children and teens about trailblazing women working to protect the planet, as well as on how kids can make a difference for the Earth, check out our special collection on the Top Children’s Books on the Environment.

To learn about more trailblazing women, don’t miss the first post in our series about Mighty Girl Heroes: Those Who Dared To Discover: 15 Women Scientists You Should Know.

WOMEN ENVIRONMENTALISTS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Anna Botsford Comstock (1854 – 1930)

Growing up on her parents’ farm in New York, Anna Botsford Comstock developed an appreciation for the wonder and beauty of the natural world. When she married, she turned her observant eye to illustrating the insects that she and her husband studied, drawing thousands of detailed pictures, first for her husband’s books and then for books they wrote together. After completing a degree in natural history in 1885, she started writing her own books, including The Handbook of Nature Study which is still considered a standard textbook today. She also broke new ground in the academic world, becoming the first female professor at Cornell University. Comstock is also famous for designing the first outdoor nature studies program for children, which took science out of the classroom and encouraged kids’ love of the natural world. Her method became the model for nature studies programs around the world, helping to foster a new appreciation for the importance of conservation in the next generation.

This exciting moment for youth and agribusiness will be featured when Feed the Future and USAID officially launch the TV show in Nairobi next week, alongside the show’s partners. The launch event to be held on Tuesday May 2^nd, 2017 at Nairobi’s youth and art center PAWA254, will include presentations from the show’s producer Mediae Company, Africa Lead and USAID, and Mercy Corps’ Agrifin Accelerate program. The event will feature a press briefing and youth agribusiness panel focused on youth and agribusiness titled ‘The Future of Food Security in East Africa’.

Aspiring youth entrepreneurs are invited to register and attend the launch event.

About the Show

Set in a rural area just outside Nairobi, Kenya, Don’t Lose the Plot features four young farmers given one acre of land each and nine months to turn them into successful farms. The farmers receive guidance and practical insights from agriculture experts on financial planning, planting strategies, agricultural inputs and marketing. In the end, the farmer with the most profitable and sustainable farm will win an agricultural investment worth $10,000.

Don’t Lose the Plot is produced by Mediae, the creators of the popular TV series Shamba Shape Up and Makutano Junction and will be broadcast in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The show will air on Citizen Television in Kenya in two major languages: Sundays 1:30 pm (Swahili) and Thursday 1:30 pm (English). In Tanzania episodes in Swahili will be airing in Tanzania on ITV on Fridays at 6:30 pm starting on 5th May 2017. The show will be broadcast on Urban TV in Uganda on a future date.

Don’t Lose the Plot is supported by Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, and USAID’s Kenya and East Africa Mission through Feed the Future’s continent-wide capacity building program, Africa Lead. Support to Mediae from Feed the Future and USAID is focused on increasing media content on the agriculture sector and opportunities for youth employment and development.

The Names of the Four(4) Nigerian Students, who invented Fuelless Generator (Urine Generator) are:

* Duro-Aina Adebola (14),
* Akindele Abiola (14),
* Faleke Oluwatoyin (14) and
* Bello Eniola (15).

The generator is on display at an exhibition in Lagos Nigeria and everybody shower their praise on the talents of the kids.
The best part is that just one liter of urine will gives you 6 good hours of power supply. Their invention ensures that 1 Liter of urine will gives you 6 hours of electricity.
Here is how the system of the Generator operates:

1. Urine is put into an electrolytic cell, which
separates out the hydrogen.
2. The hydrogen goes into a water filter for purification, which then gets pushed into the gas cylinder.
3. The gas cylinder pushes hydrogen into a cylinder of liquid borax, which is used to remove the moisture from the hydrogen gas.
4. This purified hydrogen gas is pushed into the generator.

What do you think of this invention? Probably, very soon they will be able to create one that will run with real-water.
Congrats to them, and yes. Nigerians Got Talents!

Is there anything more remarkable than the mind of a child?

They may not have the knowledge and experience of their parents and grandparents, but kids are just incredibly creative, adventurous, and flexible in the way they think about big problems.

That’s why kids — like adorable little Alia who cheers up San Franciscans with her rainbow rocks — have such a knack for solving problems with totally out-of-the-box solutions. They don’t snag on the same particularities as grown-ups, and always reach for the stars.

The latest example of the incredible phenomenon of kids taking charge? A little girl named Mikaila Ulmer who started with nothing but a painful bee sting and an old lemonade recipe from the 1940s.

For Mikaila, the unpleasant experience of being stung by a bee got her thinking, and launched her on the path to creating BeeSweet Lemonade.

It’s the kind of creative leap that only a child could make, and now, it has paid off big time. According to The Grio, In March 2016, the now-11-year-old entrepreneur signed a major, multi-million dollar deal with Whole Foods, placing her product on the shelves of 55 stores in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Now, she’s poised to become one of the biggest new products on shelves across the country, but her clever and environmentally friendly idea grew from humble beginnings.