Earth Day is celebrated on April 22, and the theme for 2021 is "Restore Our Earth." Across the world, scientists, governments, and organizations are figuring out how to support our natural environment. This includes restoring forests, improving farming practices, and ridding oceans of plastics. We can all do our part to contribute, even at home. One way is to practice the 3R's of recycling. Read on to learn more about the 3R's and how to get started on restoring our earth.
It takes everyone working together to accomplish a goal like saving our planet. Show commitment to joining your community with our Unity t-shirt. Available for purchase in infant, toddler, youth, and adult sizes.
Visit our Earth Day Resources page for infographics, posters, and worksheets to engage kids in the 3R's of recycling.
What Are The 3R's?
The 3R’s of the recycling process stands for Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. In other words, it means to:
- Reduce the amount of waste you create.
- Reuse items more than once.
- Recycle materials so they can be turned into a new product.
What Does Recycling Mean?
Recycling is the process of turning waste into reusable material. This can include the reuse step in the 3R’s where you reuse items you might normally throw away such as finding a new use for them. You can recycle when you separate your waste so a recycling pick-up service can take it to a processing plant. There they will turn the materials into new products. Look out for the "Made From Recycled Material" stamp when at the store. These products are good for the environment!
Why Are The 3R’s Important?
By following the 3R’s, we can cut down on the amount of waste we throw away, save money, improve air quality, save wildlife, and prevent landfills from overflowing. Recycling can also save energy and prevent plastics from ending up in the ocean.
Save Energy
By making new products from recycled materials, we prevent using energy to extract new materials. Using less energy can help make our air cleaner because of less air pollution from factories and power stations. Did you know that recycling 10 plastic bottles can save enough energy to run a laptop for more than 25 hours?
Keep Oceans Plastic-Free
We can prevent plastic buildup in oceans by reducing the amount of plastic used, reusing plastic products, and properly recycling plastics. Plastic is toxic and can pollute the ocean water as well as harm marine wildlife. Fish, whales, seabirds, and turtles can get hurt by plastic, suffocate on them, or die when they accidentally eat too much of it.
How Can You Get Your Kids Involved?
Check Out Our Recycling Resources
Download our free resources to teach your kid about recycling and encourage them to do their part to restore the earth. Available resources include:
- Posters to put up as a reminder of the 3R’s.
- An infographic of how to start practicing the 3R’s at home.
- Worksheets on sorting recyclables.
- A coloring page worksheet.
Set Up a Recycling Center
Making recycling bins and having kids create signs for each container such as paper, plastic, cans, and glass can easily turn into a recycling center for learning. By sorting waste materials into different bins, kids can build the habit of thinking about what they throw away and considering whether it is recyclable. Explain to them what happens to the items when the recycling truck takes them away. For young kids, this activity also promotes fine motor skills and sorting by attributes.
Read Books on Recycling Together
The Michael Recycle series talks about the environment through the adventures of a superhero whose power is to teach people about recycling.
The book Why Should I Recycle is about an environmentally conscious teacher who takes his class on a trip to a recycling plant to learn about why it is important to recycle.
See the recycling cycle from a new perspective in the book The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle. The story follows a plastic bottle on a journey from being created, sold, thrown away, and recycled into a new product.
Engage Kids in Crafts That Reuse Materials
You can teach your kids how to make paper from used newspapers, tissue paper, and magazines. Tinkerlab explains how with a process that can even be done with toddlers!
You can also make little chia pets using plastic containers or yogurt cups. Learn more at Doodle Craft.
Finally, turn dried-up markers into bright colored paints in a few simple steps, as explained by Picklebums.
Summary
Download A Summary Infographic - Color
For a black and white printer-friendly version and additional resources, visit our Earth Day Resources page.
Show your communal commitment to Earth Day with our Unity t-shirt. Available for purchase in infant, toddler, youth, and adult sizes.