National Recycling Week at Guardian: Sustainability in Practice
From getting their hands dirty in making worm farms, to learning how materials can be re-used for arts and crafts, children will be learning to re-use and repurpose during National Recycling Week.
The Week, from 8 to 14 November, is aimed at helping people learn about recycling and managing waste, at home, in schools, and at workplaces.
Recycling and reducing waste, like any good habit, is best learned from a young age.
Whether it be exploring their creativity through building forts and play structures from recycled boxes and materials, or even to using disposable coffee grindings to use in composts, worm farms and vegetable gardens – there’s great value for children in being engaged in activities that promote a more sustainable way of using the planet’s resources.
While the focus during National Recycling Week is about reducing waste and repurposing materials, it’s part of an ongoing commitment to sustainability. Because a healthy planet means healthy children.
Sustainability at Guardian
Sustainability is something that we’re proud to focus on in centres. It’s an empowering tool that enables children to understand the impact that they have on the world around them.
Through unique and guided experiences, children are enabled to take on with them valuable insights that will help to shape their perspectives for the rest of their lives.
Whether it be through a deeper appreciation for the direct environment around them, or even to their foundational understanding of their relationship to the world.
As ACECQA’s (Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority) National Education Leader, Rhonda Livingstone says:
“Living sustainably means living within the capacity of the natural environment to support life and ensure our current lifestyle has minimal impact on generations to come. Sustainable practices relate not only to the natural environment, but also our society and culture, including aspects such as consumerism and community well-being.”
Sense of Purpose
There’s an incredible sense of awe when a child sees a butterfly emerge from a cocoon for the first time, and it’s even more rewarding when they see flowers bloom from the seeds that they’ve planted.
These moments are powerful to a child as it enables them to develop an intrinsic understanding of nature and the role, that we humans play in it.
We often teach children about how our actions directly impact the world that we live in, and our sustainability champions do a great job hosting educational experiences that create moments like those mentioned above.
In centre, children may participate in gardening activities throughout the year, where they would embark on an exciting journey from planting to harvesting, to even implementing these fresh ingredients in the meals made in-centre. They may also take part in water saving activities, where they would use recycled water to water our gardens and plants.
It is through these simple yet beautiful moments, that children are enabled to truly feel a deep sense of connection to the world around us.
Sense of Community
There’s a real sense of community when working on our green thumbs; and parents often tell us about how much fun their children have had participating in these unique experiences.
But this communal camaraderie transcends well beyond the walls of our Guardian centres.
There’s an entire world beyond our walls, and it’s an incredible to know that these moments are laying the foundations for children to develop values that they will carry on, and share with others, for the rest of their lives.
If you’re interested to learn more about our sustainability program at your centre, you can reach out to your local Centre Manager and Sustainability Champion today!
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