Fundraising in 2020 has been a challenge for charities and also for schools, who reply on the support of the PTA, parents/carers and pupils to all pull together with event ideas, fun activities, generous donations and their precious time. With schools being closed for a very, very long time this year, none of these fundraising initiatives have paid off.
It is still very important to teach children of all ages about how critical effective recycling is for the health of our planet and acknowledge the amount of waste we produce, where it ends up and the harm it does to our world. That’s why here at Kids Just Recycle, we have come up with some easy recycling ideas for schools, for both primary and secondary stages.
For the little people, this can be a great practical learning experience watching how one material can be changed and reused just through an easy-peasy method such as reusing paper! Simply mix the used paper with water to remove the ink – this turns the paper into something called pulp. You can squash it, shape it and dry it flat to make new sheets of paper; now how cool is that?
You could also teach the kids about other ways to change up the materials we use on a daily basis – but we wouldn’t advise these as practical exercises! Everyday items such as tin cans from beans, soup, fizzy drinks or dog food are soaked in special chemicals and melted down, crushed and reformed into new tins.
For the secondary school pupils, taking more active responsibility to understand recycling better and make positive changes can include:
- Making a comprehensive full audit of all school waste such as paper, water, food etc
- Creating a timetabled plan of action for the improvements that need approval
- Setting SMART targets and engaging in planning meetings
- Creating and implementing strong advertising and marketing campaigns to allow more students to get involved
- Measuring performance and promoting the project to other year groups
One area of recycling that would work well for both primary and secondary is Textiles! Any pre-loved old clothes, paired shoes or household fabrics can be donated into one of our FREE Kids Just Recycle clothing bins and your school can earn £300 per tonne of reusable clothes we collect. We will empty your recycled clothing bin when it is full of your wonderful donations and ensure that all clothes are sorted and distributed to people in need across the UK and overseas, keeping it all out of landfill.
We hope you can use some of our easy recycling ideas for schools and if you’d like a FREE school branded recycling bin, contact us today to start your own recycling project!