Greening Back-to-School

Your back-to-school purchases have an impact on the environment. Here's why: 

14 billion pencils are produced every year, many made with wood from ancient forests. Americans use about 31.5 million tons of printing and writing paper each year, requiring 535 million trees (most from virgin tree fiber) and 12 billion gallons of oil to make. The average American consumes about 660 pounds of paper per year, compared to 550 pounds in Japan and only about 8.8 pounds in India.

4 Simple Things You Can Do to Make a Difference!

1.) Buy Environmentally-Friendly Supplies:

• Center for Health, Environment and Justice – Check out their Guide to PVC-Free Back-to-School Supplies and their Back-to-School Checklist.
• New American Dream has an excellent Back-to-School Guide.
• Office Depot, Office Max, Staples - (in-store or online) Look for recycled content paper and notebook products, green printing supplies; pencils made from certified sustainable-harvest wood; and EnviroTech products, which have a higher recycled content.
• Green Earth Office Supplies - (online only) Sells notebooks, recycled paper, recycled binders (some are made of old circuit boards!), and many other great products such as reusable, biodegradable, non-PVC plastic containers for lunch boxes under the Kitchen Supplies tab (containers must be hand-washed).

2.) Carpool or Ride a Bike to School

3.) Pack a Waste-free Lunch (Learn how here.)

4.) Recycle at Home and at School