This is the 1 Lesson Olivia Wilde Swears by Teaching Your Kids Early

This is the 1 Lesson Olivia Wilde Swears by Teaching Your Kids Early Olivia Wildes children herbei four-year-old Otis and one-year-old Daisy are adorable. As children (and well-behaved children, no less), you wouldnt necessarily think to call them self-involved, but Wilde has described them that way herself. Shes not just being harsh, however. She has good reason for being brutally honest.The actress told InStylejust how important she believes it is to teach kids to be thoughtful, especially with regards to the environment. Its the number one life lesson she thinks parents should be teaching their kids early on.After all, according to National Geographic,about 18 billion pounds of plastic is polluting the ocean each year. Meanwhile, The Weather Channel is calling climate change a public health crisis and a national security concern. The Guardiansays that 83 percent of wild mammals have been destroyed thanks to humankind. NASA reports that the number of record-high temperature even ts in the United States has been increasing, while the number of record-low temperature events has been decreasing, since 1950, leading to a whole host of natural disasters. And the World Health Organization reports 4.2 million deaths every year as a result of exposure to ambient air pollution 91 percent of the worlds population lives in places where air quality exceeds WHO guideline limits.Kids are born thinking that they are the masters of their universe, that everything revolves around them, because we really teach them that at a young age, she told InStyle. Theyre born and everything is about them, and then at a certain age, the harsh reality of life kicks in and they realize its not all about them. And I think slowly, when theyre like two years old, you have to introduce them to concepts of limited resources. You have to say, No, you cant leave the water running. Every kid just wants to leave the hose on, or the faucet on, whatever it is. They want to use all the paper towels, because they have no concept of limited resources, and why should they? So at a young age, I just try to remind them we have to share this space. We have to share these resources.Otis and Daisy are starting to practice what their mom preaches, too, Wilde said.I think sometimes you have to show them why making a change in their lives isnt going to rob them of quality of living, Wilde explained. So its about saying you can live with the same quality of your live, you can live with the same ease and convenience, theres just ways to do it differently now.She also went on to add that those of us who have the vorkaufsrecht to shop more consciously and support companies doing things differently should. When she started earning her own money and had an opportunity to support those companies, she said she decided to use the life lottery in a thoughtful way. And she hopes that her children will follow suit one day.I think Otis and Daisy like that it means they can participate kids do like pl ugging in and participate, she said. Thats why Earth Day is such a genius concept. Its amazing how much we forget as adults, going through the busy lives that we have, and then your kid comes back from preschool and is like, Mom, this is why we cant use plastic bottles. And good Im glad its being reinforced. But thats why early childhood education is so important, because if you think about it, an entire generation of parents are learning from their children.--AnnaMarie Houlis is a feminist, a freelance journalist and an adventure aficionado with an affinity for impulsive solo travel. She spends her days writing about womens empowerment from around the world. You can follow her work on her blog,HerReport.org, and follow her journeys on Instagram Facebook.