Reduce, reuse. . .
Filed Under Going Green, Tips & Tricks | February 25, 2008
There’s been a lot of bopping and singing along to Bobs & Lolo’s fun new DVD On Your Feet at our house of late. And when we heard our preschooler singing “R-E-C-Y-C-L-E, recycle, recycle” to herself one afternoon, we wanted to capitalize on that and start talking recycling with her. But how do you do that in ways that make sense to a three or four-year-old?
We figure listening to Bobs & Lolo’s song Recycle With Me online is a good way to start. Then check out Once is Not Enough, a catchy clip from Sesame Street on YouTube that’s all about how to make good use of what you’ve got.
Once the idea’s in their heads, you can introduce recycling to them in ways that make sense in their context of the world:
- Colour both sides of the paper and then turn it into a paper airplane, wrapping paper or gift card before putting it in the recycling.
- When clothing is too stained or worn out to wear, use it for real (or play) cleaning or keep it for crafts such as making doll clothes and blankets, or quilt pieces.
- Have them help you sort cans, bottles and paper in your household recycling. As a bonus it also helps build their organizational skills. If you live near a recycling centre or bottle depot, bring them with you when do your drop offs so they can see what happens to the cans, bottles, and paper they have helped sort out.
- If you don’t have one already consider starting a compost. If yours is already on the go, assign your kids a little patch of the garden for themselves and they can use the compost to fertilize it.
Vancouver’s first Green Living Show is coming up this weekend, and there’ll be a whole Kids Zone where kids can learn about recycling, conservation and ecosystems. Plus you’ll be able to catch Bobs & Lolo there live, and we can’t imagine, given the venue, that they won’t be singing Recycle With Me.
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