Youth in 4-H Recycling Projects combine environmental stewardship, materials science, and expressive arts to reduce their waste footprint and to encourage their families, clubs, and communities to find creative ways to do the same.
Objectives
Youth will:
- Learn what is recyclable in their communities
- Understand why certain items can’t be recycled
- Brainstorm creative solutions to recycling problems
- Gain knowledge on reducing and reusing waste, especially items that can’t be recycled
- Learn the importance of reduce, reuse, recycle for our environment
4-H Recycling Curriculum
Available from the Extension office or online.
Exploring Your Environment: Earths Capacity
Exploring Your Environment – Earth’s Capacity focuses on environmental stewardship and sustainability and issues such as transportation choices, waste management, composting, recycling, and natural resources.
Exploring Your Environment: Ecosystems Services
Exploring Your Environment – Ecosystem Services provides an introduction to ecosystem services and explores topics including pollination, soil, provisioning services, and ecotourism.
Exploring Your Environment: Facilitator Guide
Exploring Your Environment – Facilitator Guide provides training, supplemental activities, and resources to help the facilitator deliver the Exploring Your Environment curriculum.
Washington 4-H Records, Forms, and Guides
For youth members
Coming soon!
For adult helpers and club leaders
Coming soon!
Helpful Resources
Activity Ideas
4-H Earth Is Our Home: Choose to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle – Ohio 4-H
Think about the items people use and dispose of each day—bottled water, bottles and cans of soda, Styrofoam plates, grocery bags, newspapers, food, and more. What happens to these items after they are thrown in the garbage? Most likely, they end up in a landfill. Items in landfills can take weeks and even years to decompose. How can you help make sure this doesn’t happen?
4-H Earth is Our Home: Start with Reduce and Reuse – Ohio 4-H
The most effective way to reduce waste is to not create it in the first place. Each time a new product is made, the earth’s materials and energy are used. If you reduce the number of products you use and reuse materials instead of throwing them away, you can help save natural resources, protect the environment, and save money. Let’s learn how to use products to their fullest extent!
Project Idea Starter Going Green: Learning to Lead a Sustainable Life – Ohio 4-H (PDF)
Many of you have heard the phrases “go green,” “eco-friendly,” and “sustainable lifestyle” tossed around on social media, the news, and in conversation. But what do these phrases mean and how do they affect us, the planet, and other living organisms?
4-H Plastic Sculpture Challenge – Minnesota 4-H
Be an agent for change! Increase your knowledge of the wide world of plastics while repurposing (upcycling) single-use plastics into an amazing piece of art.
In the Plastic Sculpture Challenge, you will build awareness and knowledge on both the positive and negative impacts of single-use plastics and find ways to recycle or repurpose plastic.
Use plastic you find to create your art sculpture on a theme or message you’d like to use. Examples of plastics you could use: cups, bottles, bags, bottle caps, take-out containers, pieces of old toys and anything made of plastic that you find in your house or yard.
Plastic – University of Minnesota Extension
In this 4-H club meeting, youth learn what plastic is and what the problem is with it; then explore what they can do about it
Mosaics – University of Minnesota Extension
In this 4-H club meeting, youth explore the art form of mosaics by creating one using potential trash items. Good for all ages.
Washington Specific Reference Material
Yakima County 4-H Alternative Energy & Sustainability Project
Yakima County 4-H Makerspaces & the Fix-It Mindset Project
Yakima County 4-H Materials Science Project
Yakima County 4-H Visual Creative Arts Project
Recycle Right – Department of Ecology, State of Washington
Recycling helps reduce pollution, save energy, conserve natural resources, and support local jobs and businesses. Follow these tips to make sure your recycling efforts don’t go to waste.
Yakima Recycles – Yakima Public Services
You can green your routine by making little changes and reducing your waste a bit each day. Our landfills receive 720 tons of garbage every day. We appreciate your efforts to save landfill space and conserve resources by reducing, reusing and recycling.
Yakima County Recycling Guide (PDF)
Reduce & Reuse – Yakima Public Services
We can help reduce waste by making careful choices about what we buy, use and throw away. This page contains tips on reducing waste and reusing items that might otherwise be thrown away.
Reducing & recycling waste – Department of Ecology, State of Washington
We oversee recycling programs for electronics and mercury-containing lights, and support programs to reduce or reuse food waste and other organic materials. We also work with local governments and businesses to build a more effective and efficient recycling system.
E-Cycle Washington is a free program that makes it easy for Washington residents to recycle certain broken, obsolete, or worn-out electronics.
Electronic products contain valuable materials that can be recycled and toxic chemicals that should be kept out of the landfill.
Washington Plastic Recycling Facts & Trivia – Atkore Northwest Polymers
Washington State Recycling Association
Other Reference Material
From 4-H Programs
Environmental Sustainability Issue Overview – National 4-H
Recycling Green Awareness Level A & B – Blackford County Indiana 4-H (PDF)
Recycling Green Awareness Level C & D – Blackford County Indiana 4-H (PDF)
From Higher Education Institutions
From Related Organizations, Journals, and Professionals
…What would happen if everyone picked up at least one piece of litter?
- Kits, Projects, and Activities from National 4-H
None at this time.