Back to School Green
Posted on Tue, Aug 31, 2010 @ 03:08 PM
By Leslie-Ann O’Brien, http://www.theawarenest.com
Although some kids may not look forward to the first day of school, most kids delight in finding ways to protect and care for the planet and its inhabitants. With a little inspiration, most children become more Eco-Friendly than your average adult in a very short time. Why not combine the back to school ritual with some “Earth-Friendly” education and dialogue to start the year off Green?
While preparing for that first day, consider some Eco-Friendly back-to-school staples. These give children the chance participate in the preservation of resources to benefit the Earth. A good place to start is with paper products such as loose leaf and notebooks. For maximum “Earth-Friendliness”, select paper products with the highest Post-Consumer Recycled Content. This is least taxing on the environment as less trees are used to create it. You can take a moment to explain to your children why this is so important. Once kids make the connection, they will naturally seek out other ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. And, they won’t hesitate to remind us to do the same!
For Earth-Friendly paper products and notebooks check out: EcoPaper. For older kids who wish to be more "Eco-Chic", try Eco-Jot for 100% Recycled notebooks and a donation of school workbooks to children in need with every purchase. For some very unique and beautiful pencils to go you’re your notebook, try TreeSmart Pencils made from recycled newspapers. Your children will be happy to learn that recycling just a 2 foot stack of newspapers saves one 20 foot pine tree. If they can convert both figures to the metric system on the spot, consider an immediate organic treat!
Lunch time is also a great time to Go Green and to make a tremendous impact in improving the Earth. Re-usable lunch supplies (which are also healthy options made from safe materials) are essential and will encourage children to reuse items at lunch as well as other times during the day. Green lunch options can also be quite ingenious and fun. The site call “ReUseIt” has almost everything your children will need to lunch Green and in style. Reusies offers an alternative to plastic sandwich bags -- each “Reusie” can potentially eliminate hundreds of plastic bags.
For young adults, textbooks are an expensive item that are not easily recycled or reused. Most schools require students to use the most current edition published each year. Instead of purchasing textbooks that will eventually become clutter in your garage or home, consider renting textbooks from Chegg. Rental costs are significantly lower than textbook purchase prices and a tree is donated for each textbook that is rented. And, your college kids can tweet about it with the satisfaction of knowing they are helping others save money and the Go Green.
Numerous other Green options are available. Shop online to save gas, time and energy and to find the perfect Back-to-School Green options for your children. Kids will enjoy learning how their choice of school gear can help make a specific and tangible difference in the World. If your family wants to do more, visit Green Fundraising and Eco-Label Fundraising. These and other sites can provide ideas, information and programs to help raise funds for environmental initiatives and your school.