Green Options

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Going back to school poses a dilemma for mindful parents. We don’t want to compromise our children’s health with school lunches. We also do not want our children to feel set apart in a negative way. Earth Friendly lunches have been a hot topic lately, and there are numerous suggestions on how to green your child’s (or your own) lunch.

So, we ponder, how do healthy parents handle this? In our house, we decided to invest in Laptop Lunch Boxes for each of our school age children. These lunch systems allow me to pack healthy, fresh, and non-disposable lunches. My children love the lunch boxes, because they are cool and the envy of their friends.

I am so wasted on cheap wine tired from all the summer activities that this will be a short post.

Y’all may or may not remember my head lice trauma. If you don’t recall, the journey begins here. Unfortunately it continued here (careful I cuss a lot). I learned a lesson, it’s a horrible lesson.

Not every mother will keep their child home when they have headlice. *sigh*

Today we did the lice wash. Not because we’re infested, but because we don’t want to be. We’re a few weeks out of any infestation, and I’d like to keep it that way. In preparation for back to school I’m washing everyone with Happy Heads, I’ll continue doing so two to three times a month ad infinitum.

Back-to-school preparations traditionally mean stocking up on lots and lots of paper stuff: filler paper, notepads, laser paper, construction paper, folders and, of course, lots and lots of books. And while students are becoming increasingly eco-aware, a lot of those paper things on their shopping lists are impossible to buy used: notepads and printing paper have to be pristine and even many textbooks become quickly and uselessly out of date.

So what’s a conservation-minded student or teacher to do? Here are some suggestions:

I feel the consumerism of back to school season like a stiff wind in my face. I’m sending my oldest off to preschool, and after 3 years of not caring what she is wearing except for holidays and birthdays, forgetting to brush her hair for days on end, and rarely buying things new for her, I am a bit swept up in how to get her ready.

I’ve been obsessing about backpacks. Really, there is a lot to think about: No PVC (vinyl), lead, no or not much plastic, preferably made in the U.S. with sustainable materials. And all this for under 50 bucks.

I can tell you for preschoolers, it doesn’t exist. (Mama entrepreneurs, take note!). After searching each link on the Center for Health and Justice’s list of back to school items without PVC, I found nothing that would work. I’ve also searched some great resources posted recently on Enviroblog.

I think the search for the backpack is really a front for feeling anxious about letting her go. She is beginning that journey, up up and away, and while that is beautiful and exhilarating, it is also painful and sad for me.

One benefit of my children attending a one room school house is we don’t get the ubiquitous back to school list of school supplies.  There’s no place to shop for these supplies in our little town of 200, and most families could not afford the extensive list common to suburban schools.  No matter where they live, one thing all children need for school is pencils, but what is the most eco-friendly option for these graphite writing utensils?

Pencils are made from wood, and although it is hard to imagine forests are clearcut for the little bit of wood in a pencil, they are.  Many pencil manufacturers buy their wood from Sierra Pacific Industries, which is notorious for irresponsible logging practices, such as clearcutting and use of herbicides on plantations.  Forturnately, Forest Ethics has rated pencil manufacturers on the amount of pre- and post-consumer recycled content in their products, whether they are made Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified lumber, and whether the lumber is purchased from Sierra Pacific Industries.  According to Josh Buswell-Charkow of Forest Ethics:

Parents don’t want their children using pencils which degrade California’s landscape, drinking water, or species, and the top companies on our report card show that there’s a better way. Those big companies that earned ‘F’s, however, are like the students in the back of the class with pencils in their ears and their heads in the clouds while the rest of the class leaves them behind.

Well maybe.

Manufacturers and retailers of school supplies have been worried this year about how the lousy economy will impact consumer spending in the traditional back-to-school season, late July- mid September….depending on where you live. Back-to-School is the second biggest retail selling season (after Christmas) for retailers and for some manufacturers (backpacks, school supplies, etc.) the make or break time of year.

So, a recent study by the NPD group, reported in Progressive Grocer, must be sending shivers down spines across the country.

There should be much less consumer traffic in the stores aisles this back-to-school season, if the results of the NPD Group’s annual Back-to-School 2008 survey of consumers’ purchasing intentions are borne out in retailers across the country.

Way Basics, a new furniture company is bringing affordable, customizable designs made out of 99% post consumer materials right to your door. Recognizing a need for stylish, affordable eco-design, the California-based company developed a line without tools and limits.

Don’t go to the site looking for bookshelves, tables or desks though - they don’t label their products that way because they see their “z-board” basic series as building blocks. You can [...]

Today, I put my little boys on the bus for their first day of school. Their backpacks were absolutely stuffed, and  will continue to be for the next couple days. The stringent supply lists are maddening. I’m required to buy boxes of a specific, expensive brand of tissues, because it’s important that they learn how to blow their noses on old growth forests.

At least I have a say as to what [...]

It is back to school time, and whether you child plays at a park or a school, you have probably been on a playground that uses recycled tires for cushioning.  In the past, I have questioned the safety of children playing with old tires; however, I remember enjoy tire swings immensely as a child.  Now, the Green Guide has reported on the safety of recycled tire cushioning found on many playgrounds.

A few years ago, we installed new playground equipment at our school.  As the teacher in charge of the project, I was encouraged by parents to explore the option of recycled tires for cushioning, which comes in either a mulch or mat.  At first, I thought this was a good idea as it involved recycling and really does provide a great cushioning, but in the end we chose pea gravel for cost, environmental, and safety concerns.

According to a recent article in USA Today, Costly College Prerequisite: Decorate Dorm, 17.6 billion dollars is expected to be spent on back to school shopping for students in kindergarten through college this year. That’s $527.08 per family - an 18% rise from last year. Back to school shopping falls right behind holiday shopping for retailer’s most profitable season.

Why?

Sure, there are some necessities that need to be bought when going back to school. My sons both have a page long list of items that they are required to have on the first day of school - pencils, composition notebooks, scissors, a box of tissues, etc. When I was a kid, schools supplied those things, but budgets are ever tightening and now families are required to buy them. I certainly won’t be buying $527.08 worth of necessary supplies, though. I don’t think anyone will be buying $527.08 of necessary supplies, unless their definition of necessary is different from mine.

I was in Target last night, and there was an entire section dedicated to the necessities for a college dorm room. This was separate from the traditional back to school section with school supplies. This section had coordinated dorm bedding, rugs, lamps, wall hangings and desk top accessories. Other items that many college kids consider necessities are computers (okay, I’ll give them that), microwaves, TV’s, DVD players, gaming consoles, mp3 players, hand held gaming systems, and stereos.

I can’t even write this post. It’s not quite August and I’m supposed to get my kids ready to go back to school. Didn’t we just finish?

I’m tired and I hate shopping so I’m online looking for solutions to the dreaded lunchbox. I love paper napkins because I can write notes to my kids:

I love you

Remember to be a good friend today

Did you tell your teacher that you like it when….?