The Go Green Guy’s 10 tips to make this school year Greener!
It’s that time again, summer is coming to an end. Kids are dreading it and moms are eagerly anticipating it.
But how can we continue our Green ways now that school is back in session?
Just like math, science, history and your A,B,C’s, Green has to be taught! Education is key!
Much of what we teach our children at home will carry over to school. Your children may even surprise you and share some of their green ways with their friends and teachers.
Hopefully at home we have already taught them some of the obvious:
Turn off lights when leaving a room
Turn off the water while brushing your teeth
Put all recyclable in proper containers
Un-plug electronics when not in use
and so on, these are things they can take with them and share but what are other ways to Go Back to School Green?
1. If you are purchasing new school supplies, look for items made out of recycled materials. The days of package upon package of disposable pen and pencil are gone, replaced by biodegradable pencils, refillable pens, and recycled versions of both.
2. Re use backpacks, book bags, lunch box, rulers and other back to school items that do not have to be replace. Look through your old supplies, chances are you are building up quite a collection of compasses, rulers, etc…
3. Cut back on paper consumption, in many middle schools and high schools your children will be using computers and go paperless, but in K-8 paper is still numero uno. Buy the highest percentage of post-consumer recycled content possible, that is processed chlorine free (PCF), such as New Leaf Paper for printers, and Mead Recycled Notebooks for use in school
4. If you have to purchase text books, purchase used or rent books. You can also find others families with children in classes ahead of and behind your children and do book swaps.
5. Protect your books with covers made from old paper bags, jeans, t-shirts or other recycled materials.
6. Pack a healthy waste free lunch. Healthy means fruits and vegetables, not chips. Try to avoid plastic bags or foil, you can do so by purchasing a lunch box with containers that can be reused. Also a product that I love is the Wrap-N-Mat, a fabric wrap for lunch and or snacks that doubles as a place mat, no waste!
7. Send drinks in a re-usable bottle, there are many on the market to choose from.
8. Talk to your school about adding very visable recycle centers and teaching the children about the importance of recycling.
9. Talk to the school about possibly composting lunch scraps and educating on the importance of that as well.
10. When Prom time comes around, think about renting a dress, not only does it makes sense environmentally, but you will save a bunch of cash on something that is usually only worn once!
Remember that when trying to encourage anything, explain the reason behind the action. IE: if you are asking someone to recycle a bottle, explain that unrecycled bottles fill landfills, waste resources to make new etc… let them know how they are effecting the environment both positively and negatively.
Just a few suggestions on trying to make back to school a little bit more eco friendly!
If you have other ideas that I might have missed please feel free to leave a comment and share your tips with others.
Together we can make a difference!
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Category: Ask the Go Green Guy, Go Green Living Tips
About the Author (Author Profile)
Creator/Host of Go Green America TV
Jeff (Jf) Davis aka The Go Green Guy is from Maine
Moved to LA to follow his passion as an actor
these days he is still acting, lives in LA with his wife and two boys
an writes about Green Living for his website Go Green America TV
that will soon be a TV show!!
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