By Sophia Moundous and Mindy Hanak
Sarasota County’s Family Green Living Kits can help foster sustainability lessons in many ways. The kits are filled with fun, interactive activities and books for all ages. Grab a kit from your local library and discover how simple and exciting it can be to live more sustainably and make the world a better place.
About the Family Green Living Kit
Family Green Living Kits are designed for all ages to use and free to checkout from any Sarasota County Public Library. Learn about sustainability through activities, games, and books. See how easy it is to help the planet through your everyday actions – no matter how big or small! Check out this blog to learn more about the Family Green Living Kit, how you can check one out, and our other backpack kits.
Ways you can use the kit
The Family Green Living Kit comes in a backpack, which makes it easy to take with you wherever you go! There is something for all ages in the kit, and the wide variety of topics covered in the books and activities provides a myriad of ways the kit can be used. Here are just a few ideas for how you can use the Family Green Living Kit:
- Choose a different activity or book to read everyday with your kids or relatives at home.
- Have family visiting? Check out the kit from the library as an activity you can do together.
- Need a break from the heat or it’s raining outside? Try an indoor activity or read a book within the kit.
- Take the kit with you on your next picnic and find a fun activity or book to read while outdoors.
- Check out the kit to enrich your classroom or homeschool experience. Find creative ways to work sustainability into your lessons through the activities and books in the kit.
- Add the Family Green Living Kit as an activity on your summer camp schedule.
- And more!
See the kit in action: Storytime and seed tape activity
Check out this video to see one of the many ways you can utilize the Family Green Living Kit. View an introduction to the kit and a live reading of one of the books within the kit (“Before We Eat: From Farm to Table” by Pat Brisson). Lastly, see a demonstration of a seed tape activity that you can try from home to start your very own garden.
The instructions for the seed tape activity can be found within the book. The seeds are provided by the One Seed program, which is brought to Sarasota County residents by UF/IFAS Extension & Sustainability in partnership with Sarasota County Public Libraries.
This seed tape activity promotes sustainability by:
- Helping you conserve seeds
- Helping you conserve time by not having to remember to thin out crops that were sown too close together. This frequently happens when trying to sow small seeds directly in the garden.
One Seed
One Seed is a shared edible gardening experience designed to build a community around food. Each year, an edible crop is selected to share with the community through the One Seed program. Free to our residents and as supplies last, seeds are made available at Sarasota County Public Libraries and the UF/IFAS Extension & Sustainability office. The seed packets are attached to a “One Seed” flyer and come with planting instructions.
This year’s crop does best if planted outside, fall through spring. If you have not already planted your One Seed crop, please don’t plant it in the summer. Instead, you can enjoy using the seeds for the seed tape activity. Then, simply store them in a cool, dry place and plant them outside this fall.
You can learn more about each year’s selected crop by visiting tiny.cc/ufsaraext_oneseed.
Learn more
- Guide to help you start, maintain, and sustain a school garden
- Guide to help you get started with edible gardening
- Resources (videos, blogs, and more) for edible gardening
- Instructions for making your own DIY Seed Tape at home
- Learn more about Living Green
- Learn more about the Family Green Living Kit, how to check it out, and our other backpack kits
You can stay connected with us by subscribing to our quarterly sustainability e-newsletter or following us on Facebook and Twitter. For additional information about the Family Green Living Kit or Sarasota County Sustainability, email SustainableSarasota@scgov.net.