Most kids probably have other things on their minds besides recycling, but getting them involved in the process not only teaches them why it is important and how easy it is to do, but it can be a fun family activity that creates a lifelong habit of recycling. So how can you get your kids involved in recycling? Here are some ideas!

Explain Why It Is Important

It is quite possible that your kids have no idea about the benefits of recycling, why we do it, and how easy it is. There are many ways to show them the different steps in the recycling process, from what you do at home to how items are recycled. Find out if you can take a trip to your local recycling plant, check out a library book about recycling, or go on YouTube to find videos to watch. You may want to discuss with your kids:

• What happens to items that are thrown in the recycle bin?

• What happens at recycling centers and how is a recycled item transformed into something else?

• How does recycling save energy?

• What happens to items that are thrown away in the trash instead of being recycled?

• How are items such as computers and batteries recycled?

• Examples of amazing art/architecture that have been created using recycled items

Encourage Recycling in the Home

Creating bins for the kitchen or garage makes recycling easy for kids. Decorate the bins so that it is easy, even for small children, to tell what goes in which one (cans in one bin, paper in the other, for example, depending on how your city sorts it). Use different colors or have kids draw pictures to show which bin is for what.

Many kids will enjoy the process of deciding which bin an item goes in and the responsibility of putting the right item in the right place. If you have younger children, a sticker chart or some other reward system may be the extra encouragement needed to remind them to recycle.

Explore the Many Ways There Are To Recycle

Of course, recycling means more than just sending a plastic bottle away to be repurposed. It also includes “upcycling,” giving things away to someone who might get some use out of it when your kids are done with it. Explain to kids that giving their old coat away will not only help someone who needs it but will keep it out of the landfill.

Instead of throwing recyclables into the bin, you can recycle old materials by using them around the house. Kids can build an art project with old boxes, a bird feeder with an old milk carton, or wind chimes out of old cans.

Composting is another way to recycle. Eggshells, banana peels, and leaves that might otherwise go into a landfill can go into a compost pile to be made into a natural fertilizer. This is also a great way to teach kids about the many benefits of gardening, how plants grow, and how plants use composted material.

Speaking of recycling and gardens, a fun family activity may be a “recycled garden,” which not only uses compost but other items in the garden. Paper cups can be used to start seedlings (and can be planted directly in the ground depending on what they are coated with); toilet paper tubes can be used for seedlings as well. You can even use old toys as planters and old clothes to make a scarecrow.

Even adults can get confused about what can be recycled and what can’t and why recycling is important. Getting kids started early by teaching them about recycling is not only good for the environment, but it is a great way to get kids involved in helping out at home, and you may even start them on a lifelong love of gardening, or they may turn out to be the next great artist who uses recyclable materials.