It’s time to head back to school! Use these tips to ensure that you’re being as environmentally friendly as possible when you wave goodbye to your kids on the first day:

DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE NEW?  Okay sure, it’s great to show up on the 1st day back in some smashing brand new outfit, but beyond day one why do all of your school wardrobe items have to be brand new?  While the hand-me-down concept used to be the sole domain of younger siblings, there are a growing number of used clothing retailers that can insert a certain element of “eco-chic” to your child’s wardrobe and are much more affordable anyway.

PACK LUNCHES IN REUSABLE CONTAINERS  ‘Brown bagging’ may be synonymous with bringing your lunch, but single use, brown paper or plastic sandwich and lunch bags are a big no-no today.  The much better option is to pack their lunches in reusable food and drink containers, which can be used throughout the entire school year.  If paper bags must be used, look for bags that have not been bleached or are made from recycled paper.

RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO BUY IN BULK  Remember those packs of 24 cheap pens we used to buy in bulk?  Or those 5 packs of glue sticks? Well, in most cases we don’t really need to do that anymore. Where writing utensils are concerned, consider buying pens and pencils that are refillable. With other supplies, always take a realistic estimate of what you will need and if you don’t need to buy in bulk, then don’t.  More isn’t always better – even if it comes at a cheaper per unit price.

CHOOSE PRODUCTS WITH MINIMAL PACKAGING  Once upon a time we believed that extra packaging was a sign of prestige and quality.  Nowadays it’s just pure waste.  Keep this in mind when picking products in order to minimize the amount of non-recyclable items that we need to send to landfill.

RESPONSIBLE LAPTOP PURCHASING AND USAGE  While the use of personal computers in schools and for homework is all but essential today, we still need to be responsible users of them.  Be sure to turn off laptops when not in use to conserve energy.  In addition, while this may take time to research, consider supporting computer manufacturers that are working to reduce their environmental impacts.  Supporting these initiatives with your patronage will go a long way to ensure the continuance of their green evolution and will also encourage other manufacturers to follow suit.

SUPPORT LOCAL FOOD PRODUCERS  When purchasing food items for school lunches and snacks, try to source as many of these items from local food producers as possible.  Carbon emissions from trucks hauling produce and fruit across the continent are a big problem that can easily be reduced through smart food purchases.

WALK, CYCLE OR BUS TO SCHOOL Walking to school or riding a bicycle is a great way to get exercise before class.  It will help to sharpen a student’s focus in class and will add exercise to their daily routine as well.  If you drive your children to school but bussing is available, consider putting them on the bus instead.  It reduces your carbon footprint and allows them to socialize while en route with their friends.

 

If you don’t already recycle in your home, take this opportunity during the month of August to open up the conversation and get ready for an environmentally-friendly school year. Talk to your kids about the importance of recycling and how it can help our environment. Did you know that the average American family wastes about 150 pounds of paper per year? Teach your kids about where paper comes from and how recycling can help save the trees and forests. And instead of having our plastic containers making their way to the ocean, talk to them about how we can recycle plastic to make it into new things.

Here are a few other ways you can start talking all about how to reduce, reuse, and recycle …

Read up on It:  A great way to break down the basics of recycling is with a book. Spend some time this August reading a book about the topic — there are many you can choose from. After you’ve read it, talk about how you want to start recycling in your home and how it will help the environment. Here are a few books to help get you started…

• The Lorax (Dr. Seuss)
• Don’t Throw That Away!: A Lift-the-Flap Book about Recycling and Reusing
• Michael Recycle
• I Can Save the Earth!: One Little Monster Learns to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
• Fancy Nancy: Every Day Is Earth Day (I Can Read Book 1)
• We Are Very Extremely Good Recyclers (featuring the perennial favorites, Charlie and Lola)

Make Personalized Bins: Next, make recycling bins for paper, glass, and plastic. Let the kids decorate them however they’d like with images of what will go inside. This can be a great reminder and will help the little ones not get too overwhelmed. If you want, you can make a goal chart above each bin to try and see how much you’ve recycled in a week.

Make It a Game: Recycling can also be fun by repurposing it in your home. Try taking old water bottles and making them into a classic carnival game that the kids will have a blast playing. It’s a great way to show them that we don’t need to buy new toys when we can make them at home. This is also a great way to get the wheels in their head turning for new and creative options. You’ll be surprised at what they’ll come up with once they set their minds to it!

Create a Composting Area: Create a composting area in your home. Add vegetable and fruit scraps to the compost to be used in the garden. If your home is too small to accommodate a composting bin, research community gardens in the area that accept scraps for composting.

Visit a Recycling Center: Last, but certainly not least, take a family trip to the recycling center. You can use this recycling site to help you find a recycling center near you. Meet the people that work at the recycling center and learn about where all the recycled material goes. You can also find out if there are ways you can volunteer as a family at the recycling center.