EARTH-FRIENDLY
BACK-TO-SCHOOL TIPS
Simple Ways to Preserve Our EcoSystem This September
With millions of parents buying new
clothes, sneakers, book bags and lunch boxes among other things like
pencils, binders and other school supplies each year, it's no wonder that
September connotates a “fresh, new start” for many families. What a perfect
time for parents to start introducing earth-friendly concepts into their
children's everyday lives. The EcoMall offers the
following green alternatives to the traditional back-to-school supplies
along with other ideas for parents to help “green” their schools.
According to Tom Kay, co-founder and president of the EcoMall, “Petroleum
oil, a non-renewable resource, is used in the manufacture of chemicals and
plastic commonly found in most school supplies. Environmentally speaking,
using supplies made of natural ingredients is always preferable. Recycling
paper products should be common practice.” The following check list can be
used for environmentally conscious school supply shopping - not just for
parents as they do their own shopping, but for parents to pass on to school
administrators for the products they will be buying. Shopping with the
planet in mind can also protect your child from potentially hazardous
chemicals (particularly those found in art supplies).
What to buy:
- Pencils, (regular and colored)
- Refillable pens
- Crayons
- Notebooks and paper supplies made of recycled paper
- Notebooks covered in cardboard
- Water-based paints and poster paints
- White school glue or paste
- Vegetable or plant-based dyes
What to avoid:
- Magic markers
- Disposable pens
- Plastic folders, notebooks
- Acrylic paints and scented art products (these contain large amounts of
chemicals and may be a hazard to children’s health, particularly to young
children who try to eat them)
- Epoxy or instant bonding glues
- Artists’ pastel crayons (some may contain asbestos)
- Dyes made of fiber reactive or commercial dyes
- Glossy paper used for art projects
School administrators and children alike need to be educated about
diminishing natural resources and encouraged to do their part in preserving
the planet. Another good reason to “go green” this September, according to
Marianne Schnall, co-founder of the EcoMall with Kay, is for health reasons.
Using art supplies made with natural ingredients avoids any kind of exposure
(ingestion, inhalation, or absorption through skin) of any possible
hazardous ingredients and solvents such as lead, asbestos and cadmium.
“What’s good for the planet is good for your child, our families and society
as a whole,” said Ms. Schnall. “The small effort it takes to consciously
purchase your children’s school supplies and family’s paper goods makes an
enormous difference to the health and integrity of our planet.”
Other ideas the EcoMall suggests to green-minded parents include:
- Get your schools pre-recycling: Encourage your school to buy recycled
products, as well as instituting a good recycling program. Most school
systems purchase in bulk from the company that gives the best bid. When
teachers place their school orders for the year, they should request
recycled paper products. A lot of the big companies do have recycled papers
in their lines. There are many reasons to recycle and purchase recycled
products for our homes, schools and offices. Instituting solid recycling
programs in your school, will in the long run save your school money.
Recycling doesn't always refer to how you throw things out. It refers to how
you use things again. Schools should remember to use both sides of the
paper, save and reuse paper clips, thumbtacks, rubber bands, etc. and
recycle newspapers, cans, and bottles.
- Make your school a toxin-free zone: Talk to your school about changing
over to non-toxic cleaners (which impact indoor air quality), as well as
providing organic food and juice, as well as rBGH-free milk. Make sure your
school is not using toxic pesticides in or around the school, which can pose
significant health risks to your children if exposed.
- Beautifying your schools: Speak with school administrators about planting
a tree on school grounds each September, or flowers can be planted by
children at a later date.
- When choosing your children’s back to school wardrobe, support companies
offering organic cotton and hemp clothing. Not only are there many
fashionable lines for kids now available, but these products do not contain
toxic pesticides - which is better for your children, and the planet.
Conventional cotton cultivation uses 25% of the world's pesticides.
Approximately 5.4 pounds of various chemical fertilizers and pesticides are
used to grow one acre of cotton in North America. Each year 800 million
pounds of pesticides are used on US cotton fields.
- Do your back-to-school shopping online (minus the pollution from car
travel or the waste of paper catalogues) and support environmentally
friendly products. Here at the EcoMall web site we feature hundreds of
earth-friendly companies offering everything from recycled paper products,
organic and hemp clothing for kids, natural toys and crafts, organic food
products and more.
©2007 EcoMall
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