How to teach your child about recycling

In the UK alone, there are over 30 million tonnes of waste in the UK generated from households every year. That sounds like a startling figure, but how would you explain that to a child who might not understand the gravity? Well, you could start by comparing it to some things that they do understand the weight of. 30 million tonnes is the equivalent of 4,000,000 elephants and 800,000 times as heavy as an adult hippopotamus.

In the same way that we teach our children about practicing good hygiene, looking both ways when they cross the road and how to look after their money, we also need to teach them the importance of looking after the world we inhabit, and recycling is a key part of that process.

The Three R’s

One of the best methods of teaching your children how to recycle is the ‘Three R’s’ which stand for reduce, reuse and recycle. Reduce is the idea of trying to use, buy and consume less. Reuse is the idea of putting the waste that we do use to a new use and recycle is to properly throw away items that can be recycled so that they avoid going to landfill.

A simple way to teach your children the three R’s is to write them on the fridge and to quiz them occasionally on what they are to see if they still remember. However, to really get the three R’s to stick with your children, you need to teach them why they are important and ultimately a positive thing instead of a chore. Watching nature programmes and highlighting stories about habitat destruction, global warming and other forms of disruption to the environment can help them to understand why they need to do their bit.

That might sound a miserable way to spend your time, but lots of fun can be had with the three R’s too. For example, you can play games in the supermarket where the person who finds a product with the most recyclable form of packaging, or the largest bulk product (to cut down on repeat waste) wins a small prize.

It can also teach valuable life skills too. Instead of throwing away a toy, game or piece of clothing when it breaks you can show them how to repair them instead. Even if you don’t know yourself how to fix something, there are often great instructional articles and videos ‘littered’ around the internet that can show you how.

Another fun activity to enjoy with your children that falls under the reuse category is to enjoy some creative time with your children. Often products like paper, napkins, plates, cups and other household waste items can be repurposed into fun crafts that bring out your child’s artistic side.

Teaching your children about the finite resources of our planet and how we need to help protect it can help your children to not only lead responsible lives but also equip them with valuable skills for the future.

Here at LSPS, recycling is of great importance to us and we help businesses and individuals all across Leicestershire to reduce the amount of their waste that ends up at landfill sites. Our Waste Transfer Station is open to traders and has an extensive range of state of the art equipment.

To find out how about we can help with your waste disposal needs please contact us on 0800 083 7807 or visit our website for further information.