How To Recycle Waste Products : Teach Your Child

But we are not to blame the Government for the hazardous threat to the environment as we are responsible for the same. Thus, we need to become vigilant towards our action right from today. Recycling was a topic that we learnt in school and forgot about the same as we all grew up. Well, this topic can now be brought in to action and the same can be taught to our children as well, for their brighter future. Recycling for children is one way to pass the baton of responsibility for a cleaner and eco-friendly future.

Teaching Our Children About Recycling

1. Saves money:

   Apart from taking care of the environment, recycling also teaches our children how to not waste. The concept of saving money includes learning to ‘Precycle’, which means that we need to teach our children to make wise purchases. An item should be brought only if we need it. Another way to save money in relation to recycling is to buy items in larger amounts. Instead of buying several containers that go into the trash, buy larger amounts and separate the product into reusable container. This not only saves money but also creates less trash

2. Saves energy:

   When you sort your trash it helps things like newspapers to be used again to make more newspapers. The same is applicable for glass jars and aluminium cans. Doing our part in the recycling process saves energy and natural resources. In fact, in most cases it takes less energy to produce an item made from recycled materials than from new materials. This is energy conservation

3. Saves resources:

   Teach your child that those bottles and cans can be used to build skyscrapers, playground equipment and even the school bus that takes them to and from school. This will empower your child to take up the matter of recycling in to his/her own hands

4. Saves water:

   Water recycling is the reuse of tap water in our homes and water that has been reclaimed from sewage and treated later on. This type of recycled water is not used for drinking water, but it is commonly used in industrial processes, construction activities, agricultural activities and landscape irrigation as well as watering public parks

5. Decrease in landfill sites:

   Since more and more waste will be recycled, the amount of waste on the landfill sites will decrease. This will also result in less pollution

6. Decrease in pollution:

   Manufacturing products from recycled materials often generate less air and water pollution. For example, making recycled paper creates 74 percent less air pollution and 35 percent less water pollution than making paper directly from trees. A vehicle made from recycled aluminium is lighter than the one made from steel. This results in less requirement of gasoline, which directly leads to less air pollution

7. Protects the environment:

   Electronics, batteries, solvents and oil pass on harmful gases in to the air and soil. Hence, specialized recycling programs are available to deal with such items, which reduce the pollution. Electronics are usually broken down to their essential elements with harmful components destroyed safely and other components recycled for reuse

In order to teach the process of recycling practically to your children, make it a family process. Once this process is done by your entire family, it will get cultivated in to a habit that will reap more benefits for future generation. Here is how to do it-

1. Include your children in the recycling process at home with projects such as separating recyclables from the family trash. These include items like aluminium cans, steel cans, cardboard, glass, newspapers and plastic bottles
2. Composting is a process that can be done right in your house, with a helping hand from your children. Composting is a process, which puts the nutrients back to the earth. In nature, the leaves fall off from the trees and cover the ground, thus, providing a composting layer for the soil. If you have trees in your yard, you can use the leaves in the composting process. You can also use leftovers of food items. To change these ingredients into compost, they will also need air and water. This helps develop the micro-organisms that change the recycles leaves, scraps, and clippings into compost, which can be used to enrich the soil in your garden, flower beds and yard
3. When visiting the grocery store, teach your child to pick up the product, which has a less attractive packaging as it will reduce in the amount of waste as compared to the similar product with an extravagant packaging. Ask your child to only pick up those items, which can be used. Teach your child to bring a paper bag instead of carrying a plastic bag in order to reduce the waste of plastic

As parents we sure want to leave the world as a better place for our children to grow and the best way to ensure this is to teach our children the process of recycling right from a tender age so that they can make a habit out of it.

Did you like this blog on recycling waste products? Do you have any ideas you’d like to share with fellow parents? Do share them in the comments below; we’d love to hear from you.