Recycling for Kids

iMoo's green parenting expert on introducing kids to recycling...

Recycling has never been easier. Most of us have a street collection service or a local bring centre to take care of the majority of our waste. Recently there has been a move to add organic waste to the list of recoverables either through at-home composting or through a “brown bin “ service. So we now have no excuse not to do the right thing.

Tetra pack, steel and aluminium cans, paper and now soft and hard plastic are collected in your green bin. If you don't have space for a bin you can get green bags from your local council. Some apartment buildings have limited recycling facilities but often have a management committee or building manager who should be able to help organise a workable system for tenants. In more rural areas a trip to the bring centre might be necessary.

With organic waste there are two options; many councils are trialling "Brown Bins" but are also offering composting units at a subsidised price for those of us with the space. If you take your gardening seriously or you have limited space there are a couple of more advanced options to try.

Bokashi bucket systems, which rely on micro organisms to ferment food waste, can take all your cooked and uncooked foods while wormeries are a very speedy way of composting and produce a great soil conditioner as a by-product.

Both of these options have the added benefit of producing a rich liquid plant feed which can by tapped off. 

A trip to the bring centre is often needed for larger items and some smaller ones such as batteries and of course glass. It is worth considering a glass bottle run with your neighbours so as not to negate the positive benefit of recycling with unnecessary vehicle emissions. The EU-wide electrical waste directive (WEEE) now requires retailers and distributors to take back goods while bring centres will take white goods and computer waste. Nappies are still a waste problem although they can be composted in large wormeries (provided they are eco-nappies). Check www.ecobaby.ie for more information

 Children love to organise and sort and recycling is the perfect activity to perfect this skill.

Once it is known that everything has its place even your 2 year old is more than capable of knowing which bin to put a banana skin or a plastic bottle. Composting is a great way to teach children all about the science of natural cycles, the importance of soil creation and the role creatures big and small play in the environment. It is the first step to becoming a gardener and provides children with the raw materials needed to produce healthy plants. It is a very rewarding experience for a child to grow their own vegetables using compost and fertiliser they helped to make.

In nature there is no waste as all organic materials get reused as food in another process.

This concept is very understandable even to the youngest child as they like to know that everything has its place.