Teaching Your Child To Love The Planet And The Importance Of Recycling

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According to researchers, up to 80% of the items we throw away could be easily recycled or composted.

One recycled tin can saves enough energy to run a television for three hours.

One recycled plastic bottle could power a light bulb for three hours.
Making one new can consumes the same amount of energy as recycling twenty beverage cans.

One recycled glass bottle saves enough energy to run a computer for 25 minutes.

Every year, over 80 billion aluminium cans are used around the world.

Every year, if all newspapers were recycled, we could save over 250 million trees.

The list is endless. These facts astound us and remind us of the importance of teaching the younger generation how to recycle and emphasising the importance of recycling. Recycling is an excellent way to begin teaching your child about the environment and the importance of loving and caring for our planet. It's also a great way to get the whole family involved and working together for a good cause. It is simple to tell your child to recycle, but teaching them why you are doing so and the consequences of not recycling ...
... is critical for future generations.

Here are some suggestions to help you "go green" at home.

Start at An Early Age
Begin teaching your child to recycle at a young age so that it becomes a habit. Place recycling bins in places where your child can see you using them. Make a point of pointing out what you're doing and begin using language as soon as possible - for example, "The plastic bottle goes in this blue bin for recycling" and "this paper goes in the red bin for recycling."

Practice What You Preach
If you are not recycling, it will be difficult to persuade your children that it is necessary. Children frequently imitate their parents, so if you want to encourage your child to recycle, you should also recycle.

Make Personalized Bins
Set up bins for plastic, paper, and glass, and let your children help you decorate them. Place colourful images of what will be inside the bin and allow them to be creative with other decorations. Check the bins together once a week to see how much you were able to recycle. Remember to put them in a convenient and easily accessible location for everyone.

Know What You’re Teaching Them
Prepare to be bombarded with questions as you introduce new concepts to your child. Do your research, read some books or articles and be ready to answer their questions - expect things like "why do we recycle?", "how do they recycle these?", "why can certain materials not be recycled?". Remember that questions indicate your child's interest in the topic, so always respond eagerly, turn it into a conversation, and make sure that if you don't know the answer, you try to find out and get back to them. To pique their interest, you can even sit with them and watch videos online or read articles aloud to them.

Visit a Recycling Plant
What better way to teach your child about recycling than to show them what happens to the material after it is recycled?

Reuse Materials
There are numerous ways to supplement environmental education. You can make compost with your child by demonstrating how waste can be converted into garden soil. This is an excellent way to teach them how to recycle while also exposing them to nature.

You can also go through their clothes and toys with them and decide which ones they never use. You can sell them at a garage sale or donate them to charities for other children to use; either way, it is a fun and interactive way to teach children about recycling.

Light Pollution
Make it a habit to turn off lights around the house when they are not in use. Say it aloud when you turn them off, and as your children get older, put them in charge of making sure the lights in the house are turned off.

Planting a Garden
Gardening is enjoyable, a good sensory activity, and a wonderful way to interact with your children while introducing them to nature. It also promotes an appreciation for nature. Allow them to get dirty and enjoy planting seeds; teach them how to water the plants and the importance of doing so; and you can even plant vegetables and herbs to eat together.

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