How to help your kid cut household waste, with real before-and-after numbers

Kids 10 to 12 often care a lot about the planet, and sometimes feel helpless about it. These quests turn that worry into action with numbers: find out what your family actually throws away and uses, make one change, and measure whether it worked. That's real science, and a real difference.

The big picture

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

• Americans generated about 4.9 pounds of trash per person per day in 2018, and about 32% was recycled or composted.
• Each American uses an average of 82 gallons of water a day at home.
• Household leaks waste about 9,400 gallons of water a year for the average family.

Big numbers can feel abstract. Your own family's numbers won't.

Skill 1: Run a home recycling audit

1. Put on gloves first.
2. Look in the trash for things that could be recycled.
3. Look in the recycling for things that can't be.
4. Write what you found and share it.

Check your local rules first. The EPA's first tip is to check what your community's program accepts, because it varies from place to place. Look up your city's or hauler's recycling list together before you start.

Common mistakes to look for, from the EPA:

• Plastic bags in the recycling bin. They're recyclable, but not in most household bins. Many grocery stores collect them instead.
• Dirty containers. Items with food left on them often can't be recycled. The EPA says "spatula-clean" is clean enough: scrape it, maybe rinse it.

Safety: gloves on, and skip anything sharp, like broken glass or cans with jagged lids. A grown-up handles those.

Make it data: tally what you find. "7 recyclables in the trash, 3 non-recyclables in the recycling" is a starting point you can beat.

Skill 2: Track the family's water use for a week

1. Count showers, baths and laundry loads each day.
2. Time a few showers.
3. Write it all in a chart.
4. Add up the whole week.

Estimate the gallons: check your showerhead's flow rate, often printed on it in gallons per minute (gpm). Multiply by the shower length. A 2 gpm showerhead for 10 minutes uses about 20 gallons. Your child can do the same with the washing machine (check the manual) and the bathtub.

Leak hunt bonus: with the EPA estimating that leaks waste thousands of gallons a year in the average home, a dripping faucet or running toilet is worth finding. Tell a grown-up, who can fix it or call someone.

The challenge: one change, before and after

The mastery goal is to propose and run one change that cuts household waste, with before and after numbers.

1. Measure the waste for one week first.
2. Propose one change to the family.
3. Try the change for a week.
4. Measure again and compare.

Changes that work well:

Pitch it like a scientist: use the first week's numbers to make the case. "We put 12 recyclables in the trash last week. If we put a sign up, I think we can get it under 5." (More on making a case in persuasive writing.)

Report honestly. If the change didn't help much, that's still a result. Why didn't it work? What would you try next?

Use the same measurement both weeks. That's a fair test: the only thing that changes is the one change you made. (More in tracking data and making charts.)

Keep it hopeful

• Focus on what your family can do, not on scary headlines.
• Celebrate the numbers. Saving 50 gallons in a week is something to be proud of.
• Let them lead. Kids who get to run the change are more likely to stick with it.

Make it a quest

In Family Quests, this is the Earth Keeper skill, the top of the Science branch. Practice quests are run a home recycling audit and track the family's water use for a week, and the mastery quest is propose and run one change that cuts household waste, with before and after numbers. Start free.

Next: go back to body science experiments, or read about tracking data.