Back-to-School Green Initiatives: Five Strategies to Get students Recycling

Instilling a green, eco-friendly routine is best when people start young. That’s why schools are a great place to teach students about recycling: not only is it fun, but students can bring it home and also instill a life-long appreciation of the Earth. But how can you make it fun and engaging for young students? Here’s our back to school tips on how get students to recycle right, and “reduce, reuse, and recycle”. 

1. Start the year off with a mix-and-match, identifying project. The biggest obstacle to recycling is realizing what can or can’t be recycled. To teach your older students what can be put in a recycling bin, have your students present on different substances that can or can’t be recycled, or what various recycling symbols mean. Their presentations can include a poster for the classroom, that further informs students about where materials go, and what materials can’t be recycled. 

2. Conduct a recycling scavenger hunt. For especially younger students, a presentation might not make them more likely to recycle. A scavenger hunt in teams, however, can make recycling fun and easy to understand. Simply create a list of recycling materials that can be found at home or school–water bottles, old paper, cardboard, soda cans, etc.–and have them take pictures or bring their materials to school. If you can hide materials around a schoolyard or large auditorium, even better! Once everyone has finished, have the children sort their materials in appropriate bins, and time them. The first team to sort their items correctly and finish can win a prize, and also explain to the class the reasoning behind their sorting. 

3. Make treasures out of trash. You can get your students to see the value of recycling by turning recycled materials into great treasures. For example. Whenever there is a holiday to celebrate–Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, for example–make your students create little gifts our of recycled material in the classroom, or from their recycling bins at home, instead of buying new supplies. Your students will then learn , from a very hands-on experience, the value of reuse and upcycling, and will be encouraged to see their trash in a new way.

4. Play a “reuse” game. Like the lesson learned above, students value things once they look at materials in a different way. Start a lesson with a slideshow of common recycled materials, and what they can be transformed into. For example, a glass jar can be a stylish paintbrush holder while bottle caps can be turned into earrings, keychains, and more. You can also create a contest where students can create and vote on projects that utilize recycled materials in a new, exciting way.

5. Document your recycling over time. Offer challenges to your students on recycling less from month to month, with exciting prizes. Students can win movie on Friday, or pizza lunch when they can cut their waste by 10 percent in a month. That way, they pay attention more to their waste while seeing its benefits.

By using these strategies, you can make your students more eco-conscious, and support a greener world. For more green classroom ideas, including setting up recycling bins, contact us.