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DCL
According to a recent study, our love affair with technology - specifically social networking - is really starting to cut into daily routines to the point that family together time is dwindling.
While I thought it was an interesting statistic to note here on Planet Green as a platform for discussing ways to unplug the gadgets for a green boost to family time, I hadn't realized the extent to which technology drives our togetherness until I hunted for images to show what tech-free family time looks like. Turns out when you hunt for "family" images, you get photo after photo of everyone sitting around the television, around gaming consoles, or computer screens, or games that require batteries.
It seems that spending a little family time sans electricity is more rare than we might think. So a perfect solution to rekindling family togetherness and greening up your quality time is rediscovering ways to have fun as a group without extra electronics.
Being summer, going outdoors is ideal right now. An especially appealing idea is going to pick-your-own farms. There is nothing like gathering up a harvest of good fruits and vegetables, then going home and preparing a family meal.
It's also a great time of year to hit the hiking trails, or go camping where sneaking off to check email or playing a quick game on the Xbox is likely not even an option.
If your family prefers the indoors, there are loads of fun activities that will make for hours of entertaining together-time. How about devising your own scavenger hunt, pulling out those dusty board games, or making a nature-centric board game of your own?
You might be surprised at what a relief it will be to turn off all things techy for a few hours and focus on each other's faces rather than a television screen or cell phone text. It might feel strange at first, but realizing how much more satisfying tech-free quality time can be is a great green revelation.
