Celebrate Green Blog

1. If a family can do only one thing to go green in terms of back to school, what should that one thing be? When it comes to shopping for school supplies, instead of automatically heading to the big box store, stop and think about alternatives. Can you find some items used? How about looking for a few items that are eco-friendly? (See some of our suggested resources, below.) Check out garage sales and thrift stores for vintage lunch boxes, three-ring binders etc.

2. Do you have any great green statistics relating to school?

• In 2002, the USDA reported that approximately 12% of foods served as part of breakfast/lunch program are wasted.
• In a UK study, 17% of trash generated at school was food waste and 24% was packaging waste.
• According to NY Dept of Environmental Conservation, one student generates 45-90 pounds of garbage a year in disposable lunches.
• According to wastefreelunches.org, 67 pounds of lunch waste are created by the average student taking a disposable lunch to school. (That’s more than 18,000 pounds a year for the average elementary school and 1.2 billion pounds for all American public elementary schools!)

3. What are your top 2-3 web resources for parents who might want to go green for back to school?

• Kiwi magazine’s My Healthy School
• The Green Schools Alliance
• Green Schools Initiative

4. When you think about going green for school. Focus on one area, maybe clothes, lunch, supplies, or whatever you think is most important:

a. What’s a “good” green thing to do when it comes to school lunches? Use reusable drink bottles, instead of disposable. Look for stainless steel or BPA-free. These are not only green, but healthier, too. We love EarthLust or Klean Kanteen.

b. What’s a “better” green thing to do for school lunches? Use reusable food containers. Drink cartons and bottles are not the only thing that students regularly toss. Consider sending kids to school with reusable wraps and containers for any food that would normally be sent in a disposable baggie. For the healthiest options, steer clear of plastic and look for stainless steel, glass or fabric.

• Plastic-free, reusable sandwich wraps
• Fabulous stainless steel containers (they also have fundraising for schools)
• In Corey’s house, she saves small glass jars from foods such as baby food, capers and mustard and reuses them for foods such as apple sauce or nuts & raisins.

c. What’s the “best” green thing to do for school lunches? Send children to school with a zero waste lunch. To the above ideas, add a cloth napkin, a reusable lunch carrier and food that is consumed, saved for later or composted.

• Include reusable cloth napkins, purchased or made from fabric remnants
• Send your child to school with only the amount of food he/she will actually eat. Include freezer packs so that food that needs to come home will stay fresh.
• Food scraps shouldn’t go in the trash as they are a major source of methane gas from landfills. Instead, get kids in the habit of bringing food scraps home with them and composting. (Or, encourage your school to start a school-wide composting program.)
• Resources for starting a waste free lunch program at your school
• Tips for waste-free lunch
• Waste-free lunch products, and utensils

5. Any other advice for parents, what about green activities parents can help
initiate at school, etc.?

• Green your school supplies
  • Recycled soda bottle backpacks (can even be found with solar panels to charge handheld devices!)
  • 100% post-consumer waste paper supplies
  • Recycled pencils, pens and notebooks
  • Resources:
    • Terracycle
    • Recycled Products
    • Red Apple School Supply

• Start a school wide composting program or other program to reuse food (i.e. this program to feed hogs leftovers)
• Start an on-campus organic garden
• School building and construction at schools: Global Green
  
  • This site has stats about how green/healthy schools impact students and teachers
  • Also has downloadable letter to school officials and a letter to President Obama urging him to make green schools a priority
  • Another similar: Us Green Schools
  • Stats on green building and schools
  • If your school fundraises, make it green:
    • Equal Exchange
    • Green Students Fundraising
    • Greenraising
    • Collect used cell phones and make money for your school
    • Schools can also use our book, Celebrate Green! as a fundraiser. Contact us for details.
    • If your school uses vending machines, consider making it healthier/ green.
    • Get your school connected with a farm-to-school lunch program
    • Organize a safe walking/ bike riding program or carpool

What are your favorite planet & people friendly back-to-school ideas?

Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson are mother and daughter and authors of Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family, and founders of Green Halloween®.