Raising Eco-Heroes with Byewaste

Upcycling Craft Time: Help your child turn waste materials into fun and creative art projects. Collect items such as cardboard boxes, paper rolls, and plastic bottles, and let your child use their imagination to create something new out of them. You can guide them by suggesting simple projects. Some examples are making a robot out of a cardboard box or creating a bird feeder out of a plastic bottle. You can find more inspiration and share the end result in our Upcycling Facebook Community.

TIP: Use non-toxic glue and paint and encourage your child to decorate their project with eco-friendly materials, such as dried leaves or flowers.

Trash or Treasure Hunt: Take your child on a scavenger hunt around your home, looking for items that are no longer needed or wanted. Explain to them that these items can still have value if they are reused or recycled properly. Have your child sort the items they found into two piles: "Trash" and "Treasure". For the "Treasure" pile, brainstorm together on ways to repurpose or donate the items instead of throwing them away. For instance, by making use of our free pick-up service!

Upcycling Challenge: Challenge your child to transform an old item into something new and useful. Give them a few examples of upcycling projects (such as turning an old t-shirt into a tote bag or a plastic bottle into a bird feeder) and let them choose which one they want to try. Help them gather the necessary materials and guide them through the project, encouraging them to think creatively and come up with their own unique twists. This is also a good way to get your kids acquainted with basic skills such as drilling and sewing, something that they will benefit from the rest of their lives.

TIP: You can find more inspiration and share the end result in our Upcycling Facebook Community.

Waste Sorting Challenge: Challenge your child to sort the family's waste into different categories such as paper, plastic, glass, and organic waste. Encourage them to research what can be recycled and what cannot, and explain why it is important to sort waste properly. You can make it into a game by setting a timer and seeing how quickly they can sort the waste, or have them decorate the recycling bins to make it more fun.

TIP: To help your kids learn more about recycling, you can also make use of pre-made games, such as the Waste Race cardgame or the online game of NL Schoon.

DIY Composting: Teach your teen about the benefits of composting and how it works by setting up a compost bin in your backyard or balcony. You will find all the information you need in this blog. Work together to collect and add organic waste to the bin, monitoring the decomposition process over time. Use the resulting compost to fertilise your garden or potted plants.

Sustainable Food Challenge: Challenge your teen to plan and prepare a sustainable meal for the family, using locally sourced and seasonal ingredients and/or scraps from previous days. Help them research sustainable food practices, such as reducing food waste, using organic or regenerative farming methods, and supporting small-scale farmers. Encourage them to get creative and experiment with new recipes, and have them present their meal to the family with a short explanation of why they chose the ingredients and how it relates to sustainability.