How to Bring Green into Your School

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Many of us are interested in leaving the planet a little better for our children. Our children spend so much time in their learning environments that the school is a great place to continue your greening efforts. There are plenty of places that you can make suggestions: the PTA, volunteering, writing articles for the school newsletter etc. to get the message out. Don’t forget pre-schools too when it comes to green school products. Here are some tips for parents and teachers a like.

Tips For A Greener School

• Think before you print! If you have to print use recycled paper. Do we really need so many worksheets each day?
  
  
• Have a basket for paper that has been used on one side; reuse the other side before recycling it.
  
  
• Make an art project out of items from the recycled bin.
  
  
• Can the school newsletter be emailed or posted on a web site for most people rather than printed?
  
  
• Does your school have a complete recycling program? If not start one. Be sure to include the cafeteria, ink cartridges, and electronics. Earth911.org is a good place for eco-friendly resources. Terracycle also offers recycling programs to earn money for your school. Whole Foods through their gimme5 program offers recycling of plastic #5 containers (yogurt cups, food tubs, Brita® filters etc.). Use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable batteries.
  
  
• Turn off the lights if it is a sunny day. Install motion sensor lights in not frequently used portions of the school.
  
  
• Start a garden and make compost from the cafeteria leftovers. Worm composts can be fun for the Kindergarten project. This is a great learning experience for the children that can be worked into the curriculum.
  
  
• When it comes time to renovate see if you can add solar, install faucet aerator, insulation, on-demand hot water heaters energy star appliances and other eco-friendly measures in your changes. Use eco-friendly non-VOC paint.
  
  
• Use non-toxic cleaning products to increase air quality in the school. Do not use toxic chemicals for pest control and lawn maintenance.
  
  
• Give your cafeteria a green re-haul. Are you still using Styrofoam and non-recycled products? If the answer is yes consider the eco-friendly cafeteria products from World Centric and FoodBizsupply.com (products are GMO free and can be composted).

Some interesting products and resources:

• If there is ever any extra money in the budget check out the classroom of the future. The InterwriteMobi, which is a mobile version of an interactive whiteboard, comes with student electronic tablets that can be shared and eliminates the need for some many handouts. The batteries usually last around eight hours in-between charges making it ideal for the classroom.
  
  
• Ink cartridges are currently piling up in the landfills. Replace your printer cartridges with recycled ink cartridges. ClickInks.com is one place to do this and they offer free shipping on every purchase and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Staples is another place to go if you just want to drop the cartridges off for recycling.
  
  
• For teachers, the Pentel Handy-lineS Dry Erase Marker is made from 55% recycled plastic and it is refillable.
  
  
• Edutopia is a great web site for school administrators and teachers where lists of green school curriculums are listed Green your school. I couldn’t believe how many choices there were out there and many of them are extremely affordable. Many programs are cheap enough that a local PTA could support them.
  
  
• Start a recycling program at school; there are many programs that will actually pay your school to collect recycled paper and cafeteria waste.
  
  
• Earthday lots of green and recycling resources for schools.
  
  
• Looking for an interesting or green lesson for your classroom? You may be interested in the green roof education guide for teachers and middle-school students. Check out interactive guide, teacher’s resource and lesson plan on green roofs.
  
  
• A great list of how to reuse everyday items for teaches can be found at Treasures4Teachers.
  
  
• A good resource for healthy outdoor pest control and indoor air quality can be found at HealthyChild.org.
  
  
• If you are looking for a variety of PVC free products a great guide is CHEJ's back to school guide.

Kelly Neylan is a registered yoga teacher, reiki master, eco-entrepreneur/advocate, and author of the upcoming book Little Bodies Big Souls: How Stories from Yoga and Children will Change your Life. Submissions are being accepted at Little Bodies Big Souls.