Photo Credit: Flickr/somewheregladlybeyond
I am a lucky woman. Not only am I the proud mother of a 15 year old boy, I am auntie to four rambunctious boys and one precious princess girl. I also have many friends with children who I have adopted into my extended family. I love each and every impressionable mind that has graced my life. And boy, do I feel proud when I witness the green light bulb coming on for them!
Earlier this week, I heard a story from a parent of one of these children that made me very proud and sad at the same time. One of my little adopted nieces, Ella, was bringing home a backpack full of recycling from school each day. When her mother asked about it, she was shocked to hear that Ella was bringing it home because her school doesn’t offer recycling! In the greater Seattle area, this seems archaic. But I’ve been checking and there are some places around town that aren’t offering recycling because the thought is that kids can’t get it right so why bother? Well, excuse me while I stand on this soap box for a minute, but I think this is an unfortunate attitude to hold.
Let’s just start by looking at what Ella is doing. She is a seven year old girl who is taking it upon herself to not contribute to the landfill by taking her recycling home! I think this is pretty compelling evidence that kids do get it. Besides, kids are in school to learn – let’s teach them. Why can’t we be leading by example and encouraging our next generation of recyclers to do it right? I mean, recycling isn’t going away and we all have to do it correctly in our adult lives. There doesn’t appear to be a good reason to not offer a recycling can in classrooms, lunch rooms and hallways and I think it is within our abilities as parents to demand it.
Let‘s send a message to our schools. How about sending a little note to school that goes something like this:
Dear Administrator: I understand that our school does not offer recycling. It is important to me and my family, including my children who are students at this school, to recycle as much as we can to keep bulk out of the landfill and to repurpose items that can have another life as another product. Not only does this keep our landfills smaller, but it also means we have to harvest fewer natural resources to make products. Please provide recycling in the classrooms and other areas where waste cans are placed so that our children have the opportunity to make the decision to recycle. If you have a compelling reason why you don’t offer recycling, I am very interested to hear it, although you will be hard pressed to find a reason that I will find acceptable.
Maybe that is too harsh for you, maybe not harsh enough. It’s just an example of something you can say. Feel free to use this as is, or modify it to suit yourself. You can also modify it if your school does offer recycling, and you want to make sure that they continue to do so. The important thing is is that we let the schools know that recycling is important and we are willing to demand it.
Eco Home Consultations provides green living consultation services in the Seattle area, focusing on practical ways to integrate green living into your household. Learn more at www.ecohomeconsults.com or email questions about this blog or other green living issues to Melissa@ecohomeconsults.com.
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