Background and objective: As recycling is a reasonable method for preserving the environment, this study attempted to discuss the empowerment of elementary students to perform source recycling in Maragheh city.

Materials and methods:   This was an intervention study. Four schools were selected randomly among Maragheh city elementary schools; 206 students as the experimental group and 207 were selected as a control group. After the trainings in 7 sessions in a classroom using teaching methods such as discussion, showing cartoons, role playing, storytelling, computer game were used and 8 promotional programs like recycling entertainments, crafts, recycling road games and Recycling Day was also implemented. All the students started to separate wastes while school. Some students, as green protectors, guided the students. A work report form was used to collect the data, confirmed by experts, was filled out by the two groups of students within 3 weeks before and after training. The report discussed their environmental activities. Data obtained were analyzed by Chi-Square test by SPSS 16.

Results: After the intervention, the recycling activity in the test group was 38.8%. There was a significant difference in recycling and environmental activities of the test and control groups (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Results showed that education in empowering students was effective in improving waste separation behavior.

Paper Type: Research Article.