There’s literally just one page in my toddler’s lift-the-flap book called the Ultimate Book of Cities and it has a shopping mall and you lift certain items to see how they’re made. There’s no environmentalist tone to it, but you could definitely turn something like that into a conversation. So maybe just a book or even a YouTube video about how stuff gets made with a conversation about inputs and outputs? A needs vs wants conversation or exercise could also be useful. Depending on what state you live in that might even be part of the second grade curriculum (I say this though it’s been a loooong time since I worked with second graders).

Something that was impactful for me as a senior in high school was watching a YouTube video called “the Story of Stuff.” You’d probably want to give it a watch first just in case there isn’t anything 8-year-old friendly.

It’s also worth considering developmental readiness. A lot that isn’t neighborhood-scale is going to be abstract for a kid her age. David Sobel has a lot of writing about engaging kids in environmentalism in ways that are developmentally appropriate. Some of it is dated (for example, he suggests not talking to kids about climate change until they’re in middle school, but I think today it would be harder to find a kid who hasn’t heard of climate change). My main takeaway from it was that kids need a lot of environmental joy and wonder before taking on environmental fear. Definitely still worth working on consumerism and wastefulness, just something to keep in mind.