This research offers insights into children's agency in the
context of recycling behaviors by exploring how children's agency might
be enacted in various settings (e.g., family, school, neighborhood).
Using a series of child-centered methods, the authors observe children's
recycling behaviors at school and at home and investigate their behaviors
using role-playing games and a verbalization phase that captures the
children's understanding of recycling and their varying degrees of agency
around recycling. The findings suggest that personal (knowledge,
concern), environmental (family microenvironment, encouragement, spatial
organization, physical accessibility to recycling bins), and behavioral
(past experiences) factors can facilitate or constrain children's
consumer agency. In particular, their level of agency varies according to
each child's specific microenvironment within the family, the location
where the recycling takes place (private versus public spaces), and
communication patterns within the family. From these findings, we provide
several recommendations for public policymakers and business managers.