The family is finally onboard with going green and have committed to separating their recyclables.  You convinced them, now you need to make it happen… fret not, recycling can be easy and even fun!

Herewith below a few useful tips when starting to recycle at home:

Information

This is the most important factor to consider when recycling.  Make an effort to find out what can be recycled in your town by contacting local recycling companies.  The popular chasing arrows found on many plastic products are not indicators of whether it can be recycled.  These are for identifying different types of plastics, and unfortunately, many of these cannot be recycled.

Education

Ensuring that your household understands why they need to recycle is very important.  If they don’t, chances are the novelty will wear off and you’ll be left sorting through the recycling.  Once everybody appreciates the environmental benefits of recycling, they will be keen to do their part.  If the positive message doesn’t work, you can always show them the devastating effects of pollution.

Resources

In order to separate your recycling, you need to set up a system to make it easy.  Of course, you could use one bin to mix all your recyclables, but that would require discipline to separate at a later stage.  People often overcomplicate recycling; you don’t need expensive, fancy bins.  A few hooks on a wall with bags will do, or even baskets on wheels that can slide underneath a counter.  You have to think outside the box if you really want to make it work.  You also need to find out where you can drop off your sorted recycling (better yet, why not contact your nearest school or church and tell them about TWTC’s Schools Recycling Project).

Motivation

If you have children in the house this can be a fun addition to quality family time.  You can research fun recycling games (such as recycling toss) and use recycling to develop motor skills.  Adding recycling as a chore for pocket money is also a great way to teach children about financial responsibility.  Sorting through your recycling can also be a great stress buster – it has the same effect as de-cluttering and organizing your space.  Take the time to do it mindfully, and consider why you are making the effort every time.