Caring for the Environment - 3Rs: Recycle

After learning about Reduce and Reuse, we moved on to the last R - Recycle.

Recycling bins can be commonly found in our neighbourhood, and we are seeing more and more people practicing recycling in Singapore. However, are we recycling right?

It seems like not all the items thrown into our blue recycling bins are recyclables. We found out about that through watching “Recycling Right with Denise Keller” videos by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, where she went around to inspect our blue bins by opening up and seeing what’s inside. We are shocked to see rubbish such as banana skins, diapers, cigarettes, bottles with liquids in them, and more in the recycling bins! This shows that not everyone is recycling right.

So what can be recycled? We went to download a copy of the poster from The National Environment Agency’s website showing us what can be recycled. We went through the items on the poster with the children, and had them familiarise with the items, then it’s activity time!

Our Recycling activity is the ‘Recycling Relay’ game where we gather 2 bags of items and have the children group into 5s. They would then take turns to place the items into the box and score points for the group. The Reusing box scores them the most points whereas the Trash box scores them zero points. The more they reuse, the more points they will get. This encourages them to not throw items into the bin but think of ways to reuse and recycle them instead.

Well done children! All teams have more items placed in the Reuse and Recycle box compared to the Trash box. Let’s remember to always practice the 3Rs!