Greening the School

My friend Kathy has two kids in the neighborhood elementary school.  Both kids are interested in environmental issues and diligently separate the trash at home into different recycling bins.  Kathy, together with other parents at the school, are also helping to oversee some activities for the school to become better at recycling and reusing materials.  In addition, the parents’ group is planning a number of fun activities to get the kids involved in more green activities.  When I asked Kathy how easy it was to try to green school supplies and activities, she had a long list of great suggestions.  I started taking some notes:

–Greener school supplies– there are a number of sites that offer suggestions of specific school supplies made of recycled materials and made without dangerous compounds such as lead.  One site is Non-Toxic Kids, where they review various products for additives or toxins and offer alternatives.  Among things to invest in include a sturdy backpack and materials that can be reused (such as mechanical pencils).

–Greener lunch materials – I have previously written with ideas for green and frugal lunches that included some suggestions for reusable lunchboxes.  In addition to lunchboxes, one thing many parents are paying attention to is the plastic content of water bottles, and increasingly manufacturers are responding with non-BPA alternatives.

–Encourage recycling — many young people are interested in recycling and know how to help keep trash in separate bins, and all of the schools in my area participate in the recycling program.  Since so much waste generated in classrooms are paper, look for creative ways to reuse paper including creating used paper drawing pads and art materials.

–Do things online -- rather than printing a newsletter or information for parents and distributing it, the kids’ school has a webpage where parents can go to see about upcoming activities.  Another nearby school where another friends daughter attends keeps a blog so students and parents can follow the activities of the school.

–Encourage projects that teach kids about the environment — among activities planned for later in the year are a tree planting weekend and walks led by botanists to talk about native plants in the area.

posted at Works for Me Wednesday