Kids and clutter often go hand-in-hand. Are too many empty beverage cans, plastic water bottles, school worksheets and Hershey’s Kisses foil wrappers piling up in their backpacks and bedrooms?

When it comes to tidying up, children can do their part to be more environmentally-friendly by keeping that waste out of the trash bin and choosing to recycle those items instead.

For instance, just by recycling one aluminum can enough energy is provided to power a television for three hours.

And while millions of plastic bottles are used every hour by Americans, most of them are thrown away. Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator.

Those wadded up Hershey’s Kisses wrappers may seem small but why send them to the landfill when all that foil can be recycled?

Instead of balling up those old worksheets and throwing them in the trash, put them in the recycling bin. Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees.

There are other environmentally-friendly actions kids can take around the house to save on water and energy.

Are they notorious for leaving lights on in the house? Just by hitting the switch when they leave a room they use less electricity, thereby reducing energy usage. That, in turn, helps to decrease power plant emissions. Kids can also avoid using electricity just by opening the shades or blinds to let in the natural light.

While brushing their teeth, kids can save up to 25 gallons of water a month by turning the faucet off instead of leaving it running. They can also help reduce water consumption by taking shorter showers and turning the water off while soaping.

Do your kids take their lunches to school? Encourage them to take their sandwiches and snacks in reusable containers to help keep plastic wrap and packaging out of the trash bins.