Recycling is cool

Published 9 October 2014 ● Last Updated on 6 December 2016

The year: 2011

The moment: Having finished another glass of apple juice and used the last piece of tissue in the box, my son walked into the kitchen and requested our helper, “Aunty, can you please clean up this tissue box so I can recycle and save the Earth?”. I almost fell off my chair but had to pretend that it’s totally normal for a 2 1/2-year-old to want to recycle, lest I put him off.

However, at the same time, being a typical Asian mother, I absolutely had to find out where the enlightenment had come from, and whether I could take credit or offer it grudgingly to his teacher. I started interrogating the unsuspecting child almost immediately.

Turned out, it was neither us, his parents, nor his teacher. A show on BBC Kids channel had taught him the word ‘recycling’ and associated facts. Having lost the crown to the ubiquitous television, not being one who gives up easily, I upped my game and immediately arranged necessary items to execute the conversion of the tissue box into a robot (scissors, old box, glue and paints were all I needed). I got the idea from Pinterest, which in case I haven’t mentioned, is a divine phenomenon to have happened to souls like me who need inspiration for anything remotely creative.

At the end of the day, not only did we go on to make a robot out of the used tissue box but also a monster with a spare! Here is the pic:

Cut back to 2014: On my part, I have hence changed my opinion (which was not very positive in 2011) on the benefits on watching television selectively: strictly only sports, wildlife and BBC Kids. Not sure whether it is for better or for worse, but my kids are surely benefiting from this opinion change!