School Shopping

Posted by Lyndsey P. Bakos-Schneider

School shopping CAN be eco-friendly. Here are some suggestions to be green this year (and the next and the next)…

The average family with school-aged children will spend $594.24 on back-to-school purchases this year. And, while schooling requires supplies, we too often turn to disposable supplies to do the job — six billion pens are thrown away in the U.S. every year, for example. Plus, going back to school offers a clean slate for a fresh start that can inspire New Year’s-like resolutions, like, “This’ll be the year I bike to school each day,” or, “I promise to consistently pack my own lunch instead of buying from the cafeteria.”

• Take Inventory and Avoid Duplicates – take a careful inventory of what you already have that can be used again — think more durable items, like clothes and shoes — and what’s still waiting to be used for the first time — extra packs of pencils, notebooks, etc.
• Look for items that are durable and can be used next year, and the year after. Stop the insanity of disposables (ugh, disposables).
• Go with recycled paper: look for high percentages of post-consumer waste when buying notebooks, binder paper, planners, etc. v
• Skip the plastic when non-plastic is an option.
• Encourage your kids to ride the bus, walk or bike.  If your high school aged students really desperately want to drive themselves, require them to carpool with other neighborhood students.
• To pack a lunch, use a reusable container rather than the traditional brown paper bag.  For sandwiches, ditch those disposable plastic baggies and switch over to reusable containers like Tupperware or, even better, to alternatives like the Wrap-n-Mat which serves as a reusable sandwich wrap and placemat in one.  And use a thermos instead of individually packaged juice boxes!
• When it comes to the actual food that goes in the lunch box.  Forget the mini-packs of Cheetos and Doritos; apples, oranges, bananas, and other fruit are healthful, waste-free snackables that come with their own compostable wrapping.