Go Green With School Supplies for Kids

Environmentally-Friendly Ideas from Paper to Pens

Aug 24, 2009

Be good to the environment when getting together the kids' school supplies this year. Here are some tips to go green and have kids ready for school.

Back to school can be a time to go back to basics, including being good to the environment while getting together school supplies for kids.

Many School Supplies Can be Used Again

One easy action to take is to reuse the materials from last year. There can be pressure to have a brand new version of everything from a box of crayons to scissors, but the ones from last year will do the same job. If parents have a number of kids, some school supplies can be handed down or “married” together.

For example, if several kids have different pencil crayon sets missing some colors, use one of the sets to draw from to replace the missing ones in the other sets. Then a parent just has one new set of pencil crayons to buy. Keep the old pencil crayon set with missing colors, to use in future years to replace missing or used up colors.

Another idea is to go to an art store, where they sell individual pencil crayons. That way a parent avoids buying a whole new set of pencil crayons.

Get Kids Involved with Greening their School Supplies

Talk to children about the importance of reusing materials and keeping the planet healthy. Discuss with them about how important it is to take care of their things so they can last a long time and have a kinder impact on the environment. Children like to be helpful, ask them how they could help with reusing and recycling their school supplies from last year and involve them in the process. Parents and kids can work together to sew up a cloth bag for P.E. class or refurbish an old binder.

Getting Green with Binders

Check out garage sales and second-hand stores, they often have school supplies like binders for very cheap prices. Also, reuse binders from years past. Use some tape if needed to cover ripped edges. Put stickers on them and glue on interesting magazine images to give the binders a unique look and cover up taped areas. When vinyl binders start falling apart, they can be partially recycled instead of just tossed out. Cut the vinyl off and take out the cardboard inserts and metal rings. The latter two items can be recycled.

Vinyl on binders usually can’t be recycled and there are concerns from a number of environmental groups about phthalates and possible toxicity in this soft plastic. Parents may choose to remove the vinyl from old binders and recover it with magazine cut outs or fabric. Kids could also paint or draw on the cardboard. As well, there are companies that are now offering vinyl-free binders such as the Green Office and Avery.

Easy Way to Keep Books In Good Shape

If thesauruses or dictionaries are getting beat up, and to prevent them from being worn in the first place, parents can cover them with thick paper to protect the front cover. Cut the paper to size and get kids to draw or collage on the paper before taping it up to cover the book jacket.

Making a Smaller Paper Trail

There is now a much bigger range of green paper options, from chlorine-free to paper that comes from a responsibly managed forest. More mainstream stores like Staples and Grand and Toy are offering this selection in paper and other green school supplies like binders and notebooks. Specialty and novelty stores also sometimes offer green options like paperclips made of recycled metal to staple-free stapler.

Encourage kids to use both sides of their paper and to use scrap when they are working on rough copies. If kids’ don’t have a scrap paper box in their classroom, get kids to bring used paper home and create a scrap paper box at home. If kids have to get any photocopying done, make sure to use both sides of the paper as well.

Refill Pens and Buy Green Pencils

Many stores offer refills for pens, but often people just toss the pens out. Every year, more than a billion ballpoint pens are ending up in landfills in the U.S. (McKay & Bonin, 2008) An easy step to helping the environment is looking for pens that are refillable and when they run out, get the refills. As well, more pencils and pens are being made out of recycled materials. Smencils are a fun green choice. They are made from newspapers, come in a variety of smells from root beer to bubble gum, and come in biodegradable containers.

Go green with school supplies by reusing and fixing up materials from years before, recycling items that are no longer in good shape, buying green options when possible and getting kids involved in greening their school supplies.

References: McKay, Kim & Bonnin, Jenny. True Green Kids: 100 Things You Can Do to Save the Planet. Washington, D.C.: True Green (Global) Pty Ltd, 2008.

The copyright of the article Go Green With School Supplies for Kids in Holistic Parenting is owned by Tamiko Nicholson. Permission to republish Go Green With School Supplies for Kids in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.