The A to Z of Waste

The aim of the exercise is for children to look at household items that are commonly put into rubbish bins.

This activity is suitable for young children (Year 2 or 3), in its basic form and usually takes about 30 minutes. The level of complexity can be increased by the leader (or Teacher), to suit the ability of the group or the time available.

The hands-on part is physically sorting out what can be reused and/or recycled. The tasks that are involved are listed below (in order of complexity);

• identify different objects
• match the object to a letter of the alphabet
• identify what objects are made from
• suggest how the item could be reused
• decide if the item can or cannot be recycled
• place object in the appropriate bin (reuse, recycle or dustbin)

Several resources relating to The A-Z of 'waste' are available;

• The quick guide to this activityFile Type: Adobe PDF document, File Size:1,892.14 Kb (277 seconds @ 56K) Opens in a new window ( pdf)
• A-Z list of wasteFile Type: Microsoft Excel document, File Size:28.50 Kb (4 seconds @ 56K) Opens in a new window- bin contents ( xls)