Recycling is Child’s Play

Recycling is Child’s Play

Protecting the environment is everyone’s business, and even though we might pat ourselves on the back for religiously rinsing our cans of beans and putting them in the recycling, it appears that kids are head and shoulders above us when it comes to recycling knowledge.

A recycling survey carried out by The Midcounties Co-operative has found that parents are being put to shame by their kids when it comes to recycling. Of 2000 parents who were surveyed, one in six said that their kids know more about recycling than they do.

Kids police parents’ recycling habits

What’s more, four in ten parents have been caught in the act of throwing recyclable waste like fruit punnets and batteries in the bin, and have been suitably chastised by their little ecowarriors.

A quarter of kids who tag along for the weekly shop also tell their parents to take their own bags and to choose fruit and vegetables without packaging. It appears the efforts to educate the next generation about recycling and protecting the planet are starting to pay off!

The Co-op’s ‘1Change’ initiative

The Midcounties Co-operative said it recognises that reducing single-use plastic is a priority and that it carried out the survey to see if good habits were being passed down to the next generation. It added that its delighted that the results have shown that children are becoming really engaged in protecting the environment and living sustainably, and this is partly because of their work in schools.

The Co-operative hope that their ‘1Change’ initiative will encourage people to reduce their dependence on plastic, especially single-use plastics. The initiative aims to rally its 700,000 members, and the next generation to make just one change to reduce their use of single-use plastic.

Co-ops commitments to sustainability

1Change will involve going into schools to educate children about the impact of single-use plastic on the environment. The Co-operative is also looking to work with 50 schools through their ‘Plastic is not Fantastic’ education programme. Single-use carrier bags are also being removed from its busiest stores by 2020 and it’s also committed to reducing its own operational waste by 20% by 2022.

While it’s not good being shown up by your kids, and one in four parents said they felt ashamed at being caught putting recyclables in the bin, many parents said they were proud of them for showing an interest in the environment and living a greener life.

Many parents also praised schools for teaching kids about sustainability and recycling and believe it’s very valuable so that the planet it preserved for future generations.

Now all us parents have to do is make sure we take a leaf out of their book and stop putting fruit punnets in the bin!