National Recycling Week is celebrated between November 8-14 each year, and 2021 marks its 25th anniversary.

With an increased emphasis in centres across the country, in terms of targeting waste reduction, recycling and instigating environmentally-friendly habits, OOSH/OSHC centres should continue this trend and instil good habits in the children in our care.

We have prepared a list of activities that can be undertaken each day in your OOSH/ OSHC centre to ensure children are educated when it comes to our environmental responsibility. These activities are an attempt at combining the dire need for education, with entertainment which hopefully will leave a lasting impression of our children’s young minds.

If they throw the item in the correct bin, they earn a point. If they miss the bins altogether and ‘litter’, or throw the item in the wrong bin, they get zero points. A very simple game to run, children will hopefully learn which materials are able to be reused and which unfortunately must go to landfill.

Tuesday 09/11/21 

While Monday’s activity promotes fun regarding our recyclable and non-recyclable waste, Tuesday’s activity might not be greeted with as much enthusiasm. Nevertheless, it is vital our centres and indeed our schools are clean and free from litter. For just 20 minutes, we recommend taking the students around certain well-used areas of the playground to pick up rubbish. Make sure you have both a normal bin and a recycling bin handy. While slightly gross, we also ask that children do not use latex gloves as this will only contribute to the landfill they collect. Make sure children thoroughly wash their hands with soap instead, and this will hopefully teach them the importance of putting rubbish in the bin rather than feeding it to our school’s ecosystem. 

If the school is clean, taking children into the community, such as the local park may be a fun exercise. This community work is largely beneficial and could potentially influence other members of the area to follow suit. These children will eventually become leaders so why not begin to show them how they can make a difference. 

Friday 12/11/21

To cap off National Recycling Week at OOSH/OSHC, we recommend encouraging the whole centre to attempt to go plastic-free. A simple idea that may prove harder than anticipated, this includes zero plastic during breakfast/ afternoon tea prep and serving, no plastic during craft activities and outdoor play, and no plastic usage while cleaning, tidying, or performing smaller general tasks. We recommend preparing yourself as the majority of items used in-centre are made from plastic, and often aren’t items you’d recognise as harming the environment. 

Here is a small list of things you can do to prepare:

• Purchase a recycled paper that does not come in plastic packaging
• Use pencils rather than textas for craft
• Avoid using craft supplies that are packaged in non-recyclable plastic 
• Cotton balls, balloons, coloured feathers, and styrofoam are all disastrous for the environment so limit their usage 
• Use foil instead of glad wrap
• Wipe down with reusable clothes and not paper towels
• Use reusable utensils while serving food

Children are urged to continue this trend at home. By influencing those around them to also avoid single-use plastic and other items harmful to the environment, we hope this initiative can continue to grow.

We will also be attempting this challenge at Craft Crate and will update you on our progress on social media (see N.B 2).

It would be unrealistic to limit all plastic items and non-recyclable materials but each step we take to curb their control and find alternatives is a step towards a cleaner future in our centres and beyond.

N.B- 

I don't know if we need to reference the fact it's Remembrance Day but dont want people saying it's disrespectful to ignore it or something because we arent writing a blog or doing anything for it.

N.B 2- 

Only if you want to, can just cut out this line but people may like us to lead by example