Recycle week: Bringing recycling into the classroom

This week is recycle week ♻️. Incorporating recycling into the classroom can be fun and easy. 

This year recycling has been in the spotlight with the ban of plastic micro beads in cosmetics and a public outcry on the use of non-recyclable plastic straws.

Despite the war on plastic taking centre stage across social media sites, more needs to be done to educate people young and old on recycling. There is a number of ways to educate students on recycling and a host of resources available.

Reuse

Encouraging students to bring reusable items into school is a great step towards reducing your school’s environmental footprint.

Single use water bottles are one of the biggest contributors to plastic waste. Multiple use bottles are one of the easiest ways to reuse, refill and recycle. Be the ultimate recycler and use metal bottle that is sustainable.

Bringing in a packed lunch not only saves money, it reduces the use of throwaway plastic packaging that protects food items bought straight from a supermarket or cafe at lunchtime.

Recycle

Teaching students what can be recycled, where and how helps them to understand why they should be recycling and the different things that can be made from recycled items.

In the classroom

Setting up a recycle station in the classroom is a great way to encourage and remind students to recycle. If your school doesn’t have recycling bins you can find your closest recycling centre here.

Any paper or card that is collected can be donated to your schools art department for reuse in student projects.

Resources

The Recycle Now website has a range of resources available from a what to do with section that tells you how to recycle almost any item to information on how to reduce waste. Lesson plans are also available.

Recycle-More has a dedicated section for schools on the website. The school zone includes information, activities and ideas for environmental projects.

The Wise up to Waste website provides a full list of available teaching resources around recycling.

How have you been teaching students about recycling this week? Let us know on Twitter.