I'm addicted to MNN's new green parenting videos with Keri Greenwald. They're so cute and fun, with lots of great, quick tips for going green with little kids. In a recent video, Keri talked about kids and recycling, and the best ways to teach your kids about the importance of recycling. It got me thinking about all the ways my kids like to recycle and reuse things around the house. Here are a few of our favorites:

 

Craft challenge: Challenge your kids to turn trash into art. A plastic water bottle or milk jug makes an excellent bird feeder, baby food jars convert easily into paperweights or snow globes, and a toilet paper tube can be transformed into a pencil holder or a napkin ring. Check out Resourceful Schools for lots of ideas. (Plus, learn how to make your own paper or find 10 crafts to make with a paper bag.) Kids can also learn to make envelopes from old magazines at www.recycleworks.org.

 

Waste can weigh-in: Try this experiment with your children: Every night for a week, collect your household garbage and weigh it on the bathroom scale. Record your results every few weeks and celebrate your success as your trash slims down.

 

What's in the can: For one week, my girls and I took a closer look at how much trash we were producing by jotting down what was in the pail each day. We didn't have to dig to deep to realize just how much all of those broken toys, plastic packaging and non-recyclables jars add up.  It gave my girls a better appreciation of what they were sending off to the landfill each day.