Metro Beautification & Environment Commission offer your kids some tips on auditing the waste in you home.

The following has been provided by Metro Beautification & Environment Commission.

Whether your family is already recycling at home, or would like to get started, you can make a big difference by completing a family waste audit. This is just an organized way to sort through the trash and make decisions about how to get rid of it in the most responsible way.

First, do some thinking about trash. Is everything you throw away really trash? Is there something else you can do with stuff beside throw it away? What choices can your family make so that you throw away less trash each week? Next, get organized for the waste audit.

You will need three plastic bags and a pen. Label the bags (1) stuff we can reuse, sell or give away, (2) recycling, and (3) trash.

Ask an adult to help you with the next part. Go to each room in the house and look in the trashcan. Pull out anything that can be reused, sold or given away, or recycled and put it in the correct bag. Empty the trash that is left into the trash bag. (Hint: Stay safe! Put on some rubber gloves or cover your hands with a plastic bag before reaching into the trash can.) Divide the trash into these categories: reusable at home (if you would really reuse it), reusable by someone else (to sell or donate), recyclable in your municipality, compostable in your backyard (non-meat food and food soiled paper), and trash. Do the same thing in all the rooms in the house.

Gather the family together to look at the results of your waste audit and talk about what you see. Which bag has the most stuff in it? Which bag has the least stuff in it? Did you find stuff in the trash that could be recycled or reused? Could there be a way to recycle more and throw away less trash at your house?

Ask an adult help you do some research. Look in the phone book to find places that you can donate or sell stuff you don't need anymore. Look up your county Public Works Department on the internet and find out what can be recycled in your community.

Volunteer to be the “waste manager” at your home! Place containers in the appropriate rooms to collect recycling, reusable items, compostable food and trash. Some rooms may not need trashcans, just recycling containers. Ask your parents to help you find a place to keep the recycling until it goes to be recycled.

Make a poster to show what can be recycled. Decorate a box for items that can be reused. Find a place to put the box so that everyone in the family can put their old, but still usable, stuff in it. When the box is full, the stuff can be donated or you could hold a yard sale.

Wait a week or so and do a follow-up waste audit. You should have a much smaller bag of trash this time. Bring your family together to see the results and congratulate them on making less trash!

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