One of the first things each of us could do is to read the Encyclical, or even to read the 7 page guide to it.
Here's a link to our encyclical page. A family might read it together. Or, parents might read a dozen or so key paragraphs to their children and explain their meaning, for our family.

Any family might pray - in the morning, before work, or at night, before or after supper, one of the prayer resources others have prepared.

A family might simply pause, during a grace before meals, to recall all that they are grateful for in creation and then turn to give thanks to the Creator of us all.

A family might take some time, perhaps over a weekend, even following September 1st, to talk about the family lifestyle and consumption. It can be very helpful if parents bring children beyond a sense of "economizing" to a genuine sense of how many of us have so much more than our brothers and sisters around the world. Childen can be helped to understand what damage we have done to this planet over these years - through what is ordinarily thought of as "progress." Chidren have a natural sense of compassion for animals and nature, and sense of the injustice of the suffering of others.

A family might choose to watch together some programming on TV, or to rent a movie, or find something on the web, which explores environmental issues, and to talk about it, especially in terms of our contribution to the problems, the impact the growing problem has upon the poor who experience it first, and what we might do to contribute to a solution.

A family could choose to do some simple actions, which can be symbolic of our growing awareness and sensitivity. We might already recycle, but may want to choose the next step for us. We may already choose not to use as many plastic bottles, but my choose to conserve our use of water more intentionally.

As a family, we could decide how we will connect with other families and friends, perhaps people who haven't read the encyclical or who are caught up in denying there is a problem with what is happening to our planet. We might explore what our parish, or dioces or civic community is doing. We could join something going on, or start something ourselves.

As a family we could decide to pray more frequently for our planet and her children. We migh pray together for different groups of people we desire to hold up to the Lord, because of what they are suffering. We might ask for the graces of conversion together - each of us naming what changes I'd like to be given the grace to make. We can together pray for the conversion of our throw-away culture of consumption and the culture of profits first, without care for those who suffer the consequences.

A couple might help each other by praying together about these issues, personal and global, and might agree to hold each other accountable to not losing focus on the call Pope Francis offers us and the world.