Did you know that waste diversion can be an easy part of back to school shopping for a savvy mom? It’s true, and it can extend far beyond ditching the brown paper bag! Here’s four steps to create less waste for the entire school year with virtually no hassle to you:
In lunches: Use reusable lunch containers and bags. You’ll minimize lunch waste. Make sure you treat them well. There’s plastic and metal options available. While plastic containers are cheaper than stainless steel, if not well cared for, the plastic surfaces can become pitted and a haven for bacteria and mold. If this happens, they need to be thrown away, which costs you money and still adds to landfills unnecessarily, so make sure that you get your child to place them on the counter for cleaning every day. Or better yet, have him wipe them out himself!
Drinks: Ditch the drink box. Drink boxes are handy, but they’re a big problem: not every place will take them for recycling, and if your kid’s class doesn’t have a recycling bin for mixed plastic containers, they may end up in the landfill. If that’s not bad enough, they’re WAY more expensive than buying a couple bottles of juice and using a reusable bottle.There’s a lot of great reusable spill proof options out there for all ages. I recommend stainless steel over plastic because I’ve had more than one reusable bottle get forgotten at school over a long weekend–and sour milk smell just never comes out of the plastic.
In supplies: Buy your school supplies from a company that supports recycling and waste diversion. R3VOLVED makes their supplies out of recycled plastic! And make sure you only buy what you need… taking inventory at home before shopping is a great way to make sure you don’t buy duplicates and unnecessary items!
Protect your gear: You should invest in protective cases for electronics. Moving electronics around can be hazardous to their health, significantly reducing their lifespan, costing you big bucks, and creating hazardous tech waste on top of that. Kids often forget to be careful with their bookbags, so make sure tablets and phones have thick protective storage sleeves for inside their bags to protect them from scratches and accidental crushings, and hard cases to prevent drop damage. Pong’s cases for both tablets and phones not only provide drop protection, they have a built-in antenna that helps divert radiation away from your head and body when in use!
Join the Twitter Party!
R3VOLVED, PongCase, GreenMoms Collective and I will be Twitter partying it up September 9. You should come join us and win cool prizes!
Sweet Prizes: (1) Pong Case (min. value $40), (1) Bundle of R3VOLVED School Supplies (value $30), and I’m throwing in (1) surprise package of Green Moms Collective favourite litterless lunch gear (min.value $30).
RSVP: Please sign up to join the twitter party fun by filling out the Rafflecopter below. You must tweet at least once during the #GreenBTS party and be following the sponsors @PongCaseand @R3VOLVED to be eligible to win.
You can also follow the host @GreenMomsCo and moderators (me!) @FoodRetro and @LilMissKateCo (she’ll be announcing the prizes) so you don’t miss any of the action!
Rules And Regulations: 3 prizes eligible for Canadians, excluding Quebec. Winners are randomly drawn and must answer a skill-testing question via Twitter DM.
I absolutely support the your ways to reduce the waste at school! It is a good idea more green companies to support the schools and to help them to be less littering! Best regards