The recycling symbol is a powerful graphic — three arrows chasing each other in a triangle, representing the cycle of reduce, reuse, and recycle. Learning to draw it correctly is both an art exercise and an environmental lesson rolled into one.

🖍️ What You Need

  • Pencil and eraser
  • Green marker (recycling green: #34a853 or similar)
  • Black pen for outlines
  • Ruler (optional, helps with arrow spacing)

How to Draw the Recycling Symbol Step by Step

  1. Draw a triangle guideline — a large equilateral triangle in pencil. This will guide the three arrows.
  2. Draw the first arrow — along the bottom edge of the triangle, draw a thick curved band with an arrowhead pointing right.
  3. Draw the second arrow — along the right edge, a thick curved band with an arrowhead pointing upward-left.
  4. Draw the third arrow — along the left edge, a thick curved band with an arrowhead pointing downward.
  5. Curve the arrows — the recycling symbol's arrows curve around the corners. Round each arrow at the triangle's corners.
  6. Check the flow — all three arrows should flow in the same direction (clockwise or counterclockwise). The most common version is counterclockwise.
  7. Erase the triangle guideline — remove the original triangle once the arrows are drawn.
  8. Colour green — the universal recycling colour is a medium green.
💡 Parikshet's Tip: The arrows in the recycling symbol each overlap the next one — the head of arrow 1 goes over the tail of arrow 3. Drawing this overlap correctly is what makes it look like a true recycling symbol rather than three separate arrows.