Recycling, re-using and reducing is being practised efficiently with the children at Clyde Playcentre.
Playcentre Awareness Week is celebrated once every two years, and this year the focus was on how young children and their families can help preserve the planet.
Playcentre operates 498 early childhood education centres throughout the country and this month each centre was encouraged to show parents the benefits of hands-on community parenting, and what they can do to help care for the environment.
The theme was ‘‘Small steps to effect change''.
Central Otago District Council waste minimisation officer Sophie Mander was at the Clyde Playcentre last Thursday to help make a worm farm with the children.
Using three tyres stacked on one another, she and the children got down to work.
Shredded paper was used with vegetable scraps from the centre's compost to make a base for several handfuls of starter worms.
‘‘Start throwing everything in your worm farm,'' Ms Mander said. ‘‘They [worms] will eat pretty much everything.'' Cardboard, paper and anything which breaks down can be added to the worm farm.
‘‘The problem with meat and fish . . .is flies, so if meat products go in, you have to make sure they are well mixed in.'' If there were a lot of annoying fruit flies, you could add some lime which helped to neutralise the soil and got rid of the fruit flies, she said.
The next thing on the agenda was to use more environmentally-friendly cleaning products at the centre, substituting harsher products for baking soda and vinegar.
The children take an annual trip to Central Otago Wastebusters to learn about recycling.
