How Can I Get My Child to Recycle?

How Do You Start Recycling for Kids?

Knowing how to get kids recycling may seem like an impossible task. We all know the toy tidying battle of convincing mini mess makers to tidy away their toys after a hard day of play. But, as we all know, recycling is important because, without it, our planet would suffer greatly. So, join Jaques of London, as we sort our plastic from our paper, build our compost sky high and ask, How Can I Get My Child to Recycle?

Teaching Kids About Recycling

None of us should run before we can walk. So, before we try to get our kids to recycle, it is important that they can understand exactly what it is and why we take such big steps to make sure that we all remain responsible for the care of the environment. So, just why do we recycle?

Recycling Helps Conserve Resources – Recycling allows us to transform the old objects that we don’t use anymore and con vert them into all new items. This reduces the number of natural resources that need to be extracted from the earth in order to create new products.  By doing this, we not only reserve important natural resources, but also protect the habitats of millions of animals throughout the world.

Reduce Landfill Waste – When we re-use materials, we obviously don’t have to throw them away. But, when we are unable to recycle materials, the waste we produced is sent to landfills. According to a 2021 report by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs, “It is estimated that the UK generated 43.9 million tonnes of commercial and industrial (C&I) waste in 2018, of which 37.2 million tonnes (85%) was generated in England.” As high producers of methane (a strong and environmentally damaging gas), recycling is a key part in ensuring the harm caused by landfill sites is kept to a minimum.

Recycling helps us to Save Energy – Manufacturing new products using recycled materials is far less costly and utilises far less energy than when we develop products with newly harvested resources. It is thought that 87 percent of all human-produced carbon dioxide emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil – by reducing this process, we release far fewer harmful greenhouses gases into the air.

Recycling Helps the Environment - Last, but not least, recycling helps us to protect the environment. From protecting animal species, to controlling changing weather patterns, reducing the impact pf greenhouse gases, to reducing the need for aggressive extraction of resources from the earth, recycling is one of the most important roles we can all play in becoming planetary protectors.

Recycling Ideas for Kids

Recycling Activities for Kids

So, now that re-cycling rascals understand the importance of sorting glass from grass, what activities will get your child interested in recycling? Well, fun is always… well, fun, so how about bringing roleplay into your recycling revelry?

Children are instinctively more drawn to activities that they are full involved in. So, turn your little helper into the ultimate recoverer of rubbish.   Arm them with a broom, protective clothing, and rubbish bag, before setting them on the way to clean up the planet one item at a time. Perhaps a little reward is even in order for the next generation of salvaging superheroes.

Recycling Games for Kids

Put the knowledge of your child conservationist to the test, with the very best recycling games to prove that, when it comes to keeping the planet clean, the next generation has everything under control. Play the Jaques of London Recycling Match Up Game to make sure that the correct items go into the correct bins. Sorry kids, somebody needs to get the house in order.

Recycled Crafts for Kids

Recycling is important because it is a daily role we can all take part in to help protect our planet. But who said that we can’t have fun while we do it? Recycling doesn’t just mean putting the right waste into the right bins. So, now that we know why recycling is good for the environment, let’s have a look at the potential excitement to be found from waste.

Our favourite way to recycle is to bring life back to ageing objects around the house. What better way to bring out the joys of recycling than to add some colour to proceedings? with Jaques Guide to Upcycling your Child’s Old Crayons, recycling has never been so vibrant!

Recycling Facts for Kids

Did you know, when it comes to the amount of waste we produce, there are more than enough fascinating facts to ensure that bite-sized brains never need to recycle old facts. We were amazed to learn that recycling just one plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a computer for up to 30 minutes. And we went calcium crazy when we found out that a 1litre carton of milk can be recycled into 5 brand new pieces of paper. What facts can you and your child find to make recycling even more amazing? Let us know in the comments below.

Knowing how to get kids recycling is half of the battle with turning them into environmental idols. We hope that you now have plenty of ideas to kickstart your own mini clean up. From knowing how recycling works, to learning how recycling helps the environment. Without recycling what would happen? Fortunately, now that you have completed your recycle reading, this is one question we won’t have to recycle ever again.

So, the next time you ask, ‘How Can I Get My Child to Recycle?’, look no further than Jaques of London, your recyclers of revelry and planet protectors of play.