Just yesterday the letter came from our new school. Excitement turned to panic as I read the list of required items to bring on the 1st day. The many purchases we must make between today and the first day got me thinking – about a lot of things (and I’ll do you the favor of skipping the school funding bit). Chief among them is how to choose and find environmentally healthy products (without making it a full-time job) and how to ensure that our son’s classroom is not toxic. And as any parent knows, talking with school teachers and administrators about on-site changes has its challenges and, frankly, has quieted even this say-anything advocate.
So I was pretty delighted when a quick trip around the green parent blogosphere simplified my job immensely. In hopes of spreading this wealth, check out these handy how-to’s and see if you, too, can make your back-to-school shopping a little less toxic this year:
Packing a lunch. I still haven’t recovered from the lead painted lunchboxes, and that was before I even had school-age kids. So this one ranks highest on my list – it transports food, after all. Safe Mama has great product tips for avoiding lead and PVC, the two most likely unsafe lunchbox materials. And check SF Kids for Lunch Box 101, you’ll be fully informed about what to avoid and what to get.
Backpacks. Plenty magazine’s Daily Green Bit tells us to avoid PVC and buy recycled while you’re at it – for a gold star. Reusing one you have is best, of course, unless it’s made with PVC (you’ll know it is if the materials include vinyl or the recycling symbol lists a 3, V, or PVC).
School supplies. The Green Parent has great tips for saving money, buying green, and not buying at all – along with a solid review of green art supplies. And, as always, Green Mom Finds has a solid list of suppliers, including The Green Office’s super-easy affordably priced green student kit. In the classroom. Green & Clean Mom has some great tips for teachers to maintain a non-toxic classroom. And, strangely, our school asked us to bring hand sanitizer to share, so naturally we’ll bring some without triclosan.
You want it all? If you’re looking to go all-the-way green this school year, there are several everything guides to help you navigate the perils, like this one from the Center for Health and Environmental Justice, this other one from the Green Guide, or this super-thorough one from Nature Moms. There’s something for everyone, whether your thing is reducing waste, avoiding toxics, or ecoclothing.
No doubt I am missing something – rising kindergartners that we are. So please, add your tips for making back-to-school 2008 the least toxic yet. ‘Cause I just have this feeling that there’s more to this than meets the new kindergarten parent’s eye.