Tana Ramsay

Tana Ramsay

Tana Ramsay, wife of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, is a busy mum of four but she realises the importance of encouraging children to be eco-friendly.Tana is the ambassador of Playhouse Disney's new Playing for the Planet Awards, which celebrate the achievements of eco heroes big and small. She took some time out to chat to Female First about how she got her kids to go green..........Why did you get involved with the Playing fo the Planet Awards? I have four young children of my own and it's something they feel very strongly about and through them I've had pressure to look after the environment and go green. So when Payhouse Disney actually approached me it just felt like something that was very normal to my everday life.What sort of things do you do with your kids to encourage them to be green? Everything from walking or cycling to school or wherever we are going, low energy lightbulbs, recycling our glass, plastics and paper- anything like that really. Also we make sure we don't leave anything on standby in the house.How enthusiastic are they about environment issues? They tend to nag me. They are like little spies and they tell me when I'm not doing something or when I should be doing something better.

How important do you think it is for parents to encourage their kids to be eco-freindly?

I think it's very important. It's our children who are going to be affected more so they've got to learn how to look after their planet.

Is educating children the forward if we want to look after the planet or is it just a cop out for lazy adults who are passing the problem on to the next generation?

I think educating children at pre-school age is vital becuase then they are picking up good habits that become part of their lifestyle so it's never going to be a big issue for them to have to learn how to do it. It's going to be something they have always just done. Educating children in any way at that age is fantastic.

You are a busy mum, what advice do you have for other mums who want to encourage their family to be greener?

I think just doing simple things like havng different bins for plastics, glass and paper, having a compost that children can throw all their wasted food in, tunring off lights and maybe when children a bit older you can encourage them to have a shower instead of a bath. There are lots of simple ways you can incorporate this without it being too time-consuming.

Caz Moss- Female First

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