Around this time of year, with Earth Day looming large in April, we hear plenty about recycling, avoiding plastic bags, and otherwise saving the planet one eco-sensitive step at a time.

We adults know these things, and most of us do them reasonably well, especially here in Texas. But maybe the best thing we can do for the Earth, in the long run, is to teach our kids to pick up our good habits — for good.

Indeed, if you're living in a multi-person household, you're already doing your part: A recent study found that a four-person household creates less waste and uses fewer resources than a single-person household, on a per-capita basis. So, that's a start.

But how do eco-conscious parents take it a step further, helping their children learn to love going green? I talked with three Austin-area mothers who have found innovative ways to consume less, save energy (not to mention money), and share this wisdom with their kids along the way.

Looking for Ways to Improve

Lauren Maples knows the challenges of raising a large family in an earth-friendly way. As owner of Green Life Eco-Consulting, based in South Austin, it's what she does for a living — helping homes and businesses cut energy costs and reduce waste.

At home, she and her husband put these principles into practice with their four children.

“Start with less consumption of everything,” Maples said. “In general, teach our kids that we don't need everything we see in a commercial. It's OK to buy things used.”

Maple's kids are big into art, but they rarely use a sheet of paper that hasn't been used already. She and her husband, who work as school teachers, bring home used paper for the kids to draw.

“If they get a sheet of clean paper to make a birthday card, that is a big deal,” she said.

“Water is a big issue,” Maples said. Her youngest children take a bath together, and their oldest, who takes a shower, has a timer set for four minutes. She is trying to teach them that when they turn on the faucet, the stream of water should be no wider than a pencil.

Maples doesn't have the latest-and-greatest eco-gadgets. There are no solar panels on the roof, and although she wouldn't mind getting a hybrid car, “they don't really make them for families our size,” she said smiling. She just wants to do her part. She's always taken a keen interest in the environment, but it was while she was pursuing a graduate degree in environmental geography that the issue of global conservation kept coming up.

“When I began to think how we as humans have the biggest impact, it started me into thinking about how much we need to change. I found many areas where we could improve, and that's when I started in our life. “

In teaching her children, Maples does more than just guide them at home. She draws them out into nature.

“Every weekend we hike, Saturday and Sunday,” Maples said. “It has to be absolutely raining for us not to hike.” They travel to places like Puerto Rico and stay as a family, exploring caves with their oldest son. Locally, they look for places where they can take the city bus.

“The kids think it is so great that they get to ride the bus,” Maples said.

Using the Sniff Test

Amy Chamberlain, a mother of two, started making changes with her family after leaving her job in the Texas House of Representatives last year.

“When I started staying at home I suddenly had a lot more time to think about the ways we were consuming and wasting, and what we could do better,” Chamberlain said.

Most importantly, Chamberlain wanted to know where her family could have the biggest impact, and she wanted to get the whole family involved. They started by replacing half the light bulbs in her house with energy-efficient light bulbs, and drying every third load of laundry on the retractable clothesline outside.

“We've tried to reduce,” Chamberlain said. “We always consider whether an article of clothing is clean enough to be worn again before washing it. If they're clean and don't smell too bad, they go back in the drawer.”

The most difficult thing for her girls was the decision to start walking home from school instead of taking the car. Chamberlain said they don't do it every day, but when they do, the long walk can be hot and tiresome for her already-weary daughters. So they've come up with an incentive: For each day they walk home from school, they deposit a dollar into their fund for adopting an endangered species.

They've also moved to “no-litter lunches.” Each of her girls has a set of food containers and a cloth napkin. It is their responsibility to put the containers in the dishwasher when they get home; otherwise they get plastic baggies the next day.

“They don't want that, because they know it's bad for the environment,” Chamberlain said.

Their older daughter, who likes to read in bed after her younger sister has gone to sleep, goes through a lot of D batteries.

“So we bought her a hand-crank flashlight. It's so loud, she can only crank it once before her sister falls asleep. She has twenty minutes of light to read. When the light runs out, she has to go to bed. It has really cut down on the nagging,” Chamberlain said.

“My girls and I found that we really like to hunt in the secondhand shops for clothes. Buying something secondhand used to be considered thrifty, and now it's considered green. It's very satisfying to find something that is slightly used and that fits you perfectly.”

Chamberlain admits that the changes they've made as a family take time and sacrifice.

“The hard part is resisting committing to time-consuming activities so we do have time to walk home from school or to go thrift shopping. But time is something we have to create if we want our families to go green.”

Looking for Local Labels

Veronica Rice, a doula with two children, has taken steps all along to live more environmentally responsible.

“We don't buy Windex or any of those pretty colored cleaners. We go through a lot of vinegar and baking soda.”

Her kids, who are both home-schooled, find the greatest pleasure in the family garden.

“They love to grow some of their own food. We learn about what to plant together so we don't have to use pesticide. We grow strawberries and spinach together.”

Rice has taught her kids to use cross-ventilation instead of cranking up the air conditioner when the temperature begins to climb. Even with the recent warmer temperatures, the breeze helped them cool the house so they didn't have to turn on the A/C.

Rice said her kids are careful about where their toys come from. They don't buy anything made in China. Her son, a big Lego fanatic, plans to save all his pieces and pass them down to his own kids. When the kids received a pile of cheap plastic toys at a piñata party a few weeks ago, they didn't know what to do with them. Finally, her daughter decided to donate them to the elementary school down the street.

Rice said the biggest challenge has been getting the grandparents on board. After they repeatedly showered the kids with manufactured toys from China, her kids started making specific wish lists.

“We've made it clear to the grandparents that we don't want them. We're very appreciative, but we'd rather have books or something else. It's exciting for this generation to teach the older generation about living in a conscious way, and living for now, which will serve the future,” Rice said.

The family buys a lot of their groceries at the farmer's market.

“We do believe in putting money back into Austin, and try to buy locally as much as possible. The kids will check the labels. They'll know if it was brought in from Chile or California that it won't be our first choice. They look for their Texas labels.”

This article originally appeared in the Austin American-Statesman , and is used here by permission.