As a parent, we have probably all heard the three R’s, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle these come from a very catchy campaign from our childhood when the local councils rolled out the yellow lidded bins. Why is it so important to embed this message in the children that attend our services in fact attend any childcare service? Because “sustainability” is also a criterion in the National Quality Framework (NQF) to which all centre’s need to adhere and practice daily, because the children in our care need to be inspired to save the planet.
Not only do we need to lesson our carbon footprint now but, the future generations will need to come up with new and innovative ways to ensure the commercial impact on this earth is minimised ongoing for the planet and its inhabitants ongoing health and wellbeing. Making these practices second nature will give them a head start to always implement sustainable innovation or innovative products. What does REDUCE look like in our centres?
- Being conservative with our consumables usage, supplementing with reusable cloths were appropriate.
- Encouraging parents and supporting parents who use recyclable items in Care ei Cloth nappies, food pouches, material food wraps and brining reusable bags.
- Food scrap waste is given to our families who have Chickens.
- Growing our own fresh produce where possible
- Buying high quality items for the centre that last rather than poorly made or plastic.
What does REUSE look like in our centres?
- Broken or old fashions toys furniture is often given a new life or repurposed.
- Using donated items from families – for all manner of applications.
- Plastic bags are donated and turned into Plarn (plastic yarn) which is crocheted into sleeping mats for the homeless.
What does RECYCLE look like in our centres?
- Parents putting items in our recycling stations for use in the rooms
- Separate recycling bins in all rooms for paper and plastics
We practice different idea’s daily in our centres and are always looking for new idea’s or new items that can be recycled – if you have anything and a great idea to reuse it please let us know our educators would love to see and help with any project!
So next time when your children are bringing home amazing works of recycled art (those huge painted egg cartons and Boxes covered in exciting paper) that you aren’t quite sure what to do with. Remember it is about the process of recycling, using something existing to make something new and lessening the impact on the environment in the process (Please recycle them).
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle,