We all know recycling is important, but fun? Not so much. Until now, at least! Check out these easy and effective ways to make living the green life fun for the whole family and educate your children about sustainability in the process.
PLAY A SORTING GAME
Sorting through your recycling can be a tricky task, what with so many different requirements to consider. To make learning what goes where more fun and memorable for your children, why not give this printable recycling game by Adventure in a Box a try? Or, you could play this recycling memory game by No Guilt Mom!
MAKE YOUR OWN RECYCLING STATION
If you’re going to jazz up your at-home recycling system, it makes sense to jazz up your recycling bins, too! Grab a few cardboard boxes and decorate them with paint, paper or pen, making sure to mark which recyclable items go in each one. The beauty of most recycled items is that they need to be clean and dry before sorted, so you don’t have to worry about the boxes disintegrating, either.
GO ON EXCURSIONS
The best way to teach your children about waste is to show them what happens to it, so consider taking an excursion to the dump or your local recycling plant! Other excursion locations include op shops – these can be great places to buy second-hand toys – and bulk food stores, so that you can stock up on the essentials in one trip (just make sure you bring your reusable containers!).
MAKE WASTE-FREE ALTERNATIVES
Recycling is great, but it’s far better to take a waste-free approach where possible – remember, the less waste we generate, the less we’ll need to recycle! There are so many sustainable alternatives on the market, but there is a lot you can make at home, too. Give these beeswax wraps, floral soap bars and natural vegetable dyes a try!
TURN YOUR TRASH INTO TREASURE
Recycling is just one third of the sustainable mission: it’s also important to reduce where you can, and reuse what you have! By turning your unwanted recycling into useful or fun pieces, you’ll be more aware of the rubbish you generate and more inclined to find a new life for things.
