We have officially started our first "unit" in homeschooling.  Actually, the entire family is participating whether they are homeschooled or not.  We are learning about recycling, the environment and all that we can do to make a difference.  I have wanted to do this for some time, but just never got it started.  I was waiting to get a small recycling center set up in our kitchen.  Now that we have moved the dining room table out of the kitchen there is actually room for a few extra trash cans.

Another reason that I procrastinated on starting this project, was that didn't believe that one family could REALLY make a difference.  Well, let me tell you.......YOU CAN!  We used to have 1 1/2 bags of trash daily.  However, when we seperate aluminum, plastic, cardboard, paper, and glass we have managed to use one trash bag for three days!!!  I know that we could be doing much more, but so far this is what we have discovered.

1.  REUSE everything that you can.  We have used a large oat container to hold small toys that were in the bottom of the toy box.  I have vegetable cans (opened with a can opener that does not leave sharp edges) to hold pencils, scissors, etc.  The plastic top of a milk jug makes wonderful counters for teaching math.  The milk jug itself can be cut and used to scoop out feed for the animals. 

2.  Think CRAFTS.  We are going to paint vegetable cans with pumpkin faces and fill with black and orange shredded paper or candy for party favors at our Halloween party.  We saved our corndog sticks to use as craft sticks.  My five year old and 2 year old daycare kids love using envelops that come in junk mail to seal their pictures in.  We keep styrofoam meat trays for paint.

3.  TO GET STARTED just pick up the phone and discontinue your trash service.  You will have no choice but to recycle!!  This is what I did.  This weekend I will buy 4 additional kitchen trash cans and label each one so that everyone knows what goes inside.

4.  COMPOST your table scraps.  Save the leftover veggies that you will not reheat in a (recycled) butter dish in the freezer.  Just keep adding to it, until you have enough to make veggie stew.  Then add meat and have a "recycled" dinner.

5.  SHOP CAREFULLY - to reduce the amount of packaging you take home.  Consider buying in bulk when possible.  Consider buying or making cloth napkins to avoid buying them. 

6.  MAKE YOUR OWN - as often as possible.  This goes for food and cleaning supplies.  A quick internet search will turn up dozens of recipe's for homemade cleaners that can be put into well rinsed bottles that you already have.  Just make sure that you clearly make the contents of each bottle so everyone in your family will know exactly what it is!

7.  Most importantly we are teaching our children RESPONSIBILITY.   One family, even one person CAN make a difference.  Have a plan in place as far as who will drop off recyclables and when.  Also have a plan to dispose of the small amount of trash that you will have.  If you wait for the perfect time to start recycling, it will never happen.  We have talked about this for over 2 years and I had to cancel our trash service in order to motivate our family to take on this assignment.  If our family can do it, so can yours!!  Good luck!