Out of the 7.9 billion people that exist on earth, children are estimated to be 2.2 billion. With this proven number of children, the need for the proper cultivation and instilling of the appreciation of recycling into the younger generation is on the increase.
Our article today is centred on how parents can help their children to play a part in the sustainability of the planet.
Creatively helping them to understand the 3Rs
Recycling as a big umbrella is usually broken down into three easy-to-understand concepts. They include Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
The ‘Reduce’ concept deals more with the need for families to cut back or control the disposal of items that can be reused, instead of totally wasting them by throwing them away.
To communicate this to children, you need to carry out practical examples with recyclable items around the house.
‘Reuse’ teaches children ways in which they can reuse already used items such as cartons, old newspapers and plastic bottles as substitutes for other needed items in the house.
The Recycle concept ensures that the zero waste practice is consistent, such that household items are used and reused to minimise waste.
Live exemplary life
There are a lot of things, especially cultures that parents pass on to their children without knowing. The children just carry out such cultures and activities because they see their parents doing the same.
What does this say?
It simply states that the recycling consciousness will be achieved easily if children see their parents carry out recycling activities within their environment.
Remember that children learn what they see us do faster than what they hear us say.
So, we have to consciously be at our best when it comes to recycling activities because the children are always watching to learn.
Use of visuals that portray recycling
Like we said earlier, children easily pick up things that they see. Exposing them to visual materials that portray and promote recycling of used household products is another way we can get them involved in recycling.
Expose them to books on recycling
There are books on recycling that have been written for kids. So, if your children enjoy reading, you could get some copies of these books and guide them as they read through them. They will probably ask questions concerning some of the activities they read from the book on recycling household items, so you can take it up from there.
Create zero food waste policy
There are a lot of rules in most families that they strictly abide by. Children from such families rarely act against these rules, to avoid the consequences.
So also should the zero food waste policy be enforced and practised in every home –where leftovers are not thrown away but are re-heated and served at a later date. About-to-waste fruits like watermelon, pineapples, and bananas can be blended into smoothies.
When children see that constant measures are put in place to ensure food is not wasted, they will also act accordingly.
Not-for-profit organisations like Creative Space startup collaborate with organisations like climateaction.africa to ensure that recycling becomes a common practice by every child in every home. You can partner with us or sponsor any of our programmes and drive this move with us.
