Back to school is a time for new things — clothes, binders, pens, friends, thoughts and ideas. It’s a perfect opportunity for parents and the college-bound to embrace the numerous green resources that have exploded across the Web and in the marketplace over the last two years.
Get a fresh start to the new school year and educate children about green living and the human impact on the environment — with talk, books, educational materials and everyday living. The following Green Quick Fixes are a great way to green your back-to-school ramp-up.
Take public transportation or establish neighborhood carpools to reduce fuel costs, air pollution and traffic congestion.
Turn your car off when you are waiting curbside for your kids to get out of school. Remember for just two minutes of idling, you could have driven your car one more mile, according to the California Energy Commission. Also, if more parents make a conscience effort to avoid idling, the ambient air quality will be improved for all the kids getting out of school.
Instruct children to walk or ride their bikes to friends’ houses, schools that are close by and neighborhood parks when they are venturing out.
Pack lunches in reusable containers and carriers. Pouring beverages in thermoses or reusable bottles will reduce the amount of temporary-use plastic bottles and cartons generated in the school cafeteria, and they will stay colder longer.
Encourage kids on days they are buying lunch to follow the “just-one rule” — one plastic spork, one napkin, etc., and to recycle cans, bottles, paper and other items the school supports separating.
Reuse unfinished notebooks, old binders and pens. Go through all the desks, junk drawers and bookshelves in your home to see what can be salvaged. You’ll spend less when you hit the stores.
Buy recycled pencils, binders, notebooks, paper and more when back-to-school shopping. Many school supplies have a percentage of post-consumer content, just check the labels. Also, look for products that have less packaging, such as bulk products that you can share with your children, so there is less to recycle or throw away.
Look and ask for vegetable-based inks; soy-based or beeswax crayons; correction tape rather than its liquid counterpart; water-based paints, markers and glue; recyclable-plastic lunch boxes rather than lead-based; chlorine-free recycled paper; Energy Star and lead-free electronic products; and reusable batteries with low or no mercury content to reduce chemical toxicity at home and in the marketplace. (Note: Mercury is known to be poisonous, and it can take a long time for the body to purge once exposed. Zinc-carbon alkaline batteries are said to have a near-zero mercury content.)
Choose and request clothing with organic cotton, hemp, and recycled content and natural soy-based or vegetable-based dyes. There are many eco-fashion options available today.
Buy quality backpacks (hemp is a good, strong option) that can be reused for many years rather than cheaply made, fad-driven plastic bags that are the latest trend and tomorrow’s trash. Also, bags with two straps reduce the amount of back strain, which is a growing youth health concern, because they spread weight evenly. Note: Ask your pediatrician annually about the maximum amount your child’s backpack should weigh to avoid serious straining at his or her physical fitness level.
Save cardboard packaging, paper, cartons, paper rolls, paper bags, popsicle sticks, and other items for the numerous arts and crafts projects that fill-up the school year.
Cover textbooks with reused paper bags.
Talk to your children about global warming, sharing natural resources, and environmental problems. Kids for Saving Earth (www.kidsforsavingearth.org) and numerous other Web sites have resources, including short films and Flash demonstrations that can help answer questions. National Geographic’s film, “Arctic Tale,” which utilizes more than 20 years of documentary footage, explains what is happening at the North Pole in a poignant way that young children easily understand.
Get involved with your child’s school parent-teacher association and have an open dialogue with the school administration to address environment and health issues at school — use of pesticides, cleaning agents and other chemicals, reducing energy and resource needs, and preventing environmental impacts are all areas where the school and the administration could be improved by parent involvement and action. The Green Schools Initiative (www.greenschools.net/index.html) and Healthy Schools Network, Inc. (www.healthyschools.org) have Web sites with more information.
Want to go a step further? Organize green plantings; local park, beach, and community clean-ups; hazardous and electronic waste pick-ups; or adoption programs that are designed for environmental preservation, protection or renewal.
Additionally, International Coast Sweep is Saturday, Sept. 21. Clean up your local favorite after an enjoyable summer. Resources for organizing are posted online by University of Massachusetts Boston at www.coastsweep.umb.edu/index.html.
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Andrea Fox, a Beverly resident, has been writing about environmental sustainability and eco-topics for eight years. She is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and a watershed protection advocate in Salem Sound Watershed.
Lifestyle
August 28, 2008
Quick Green Fixes: Back-to-school solutions
- Lifestyle
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Pet Connection: How to prevent a lost-pet crisis
Tonka, a beloved Jack Russell terrier and member of a Salem family, disappeared on Halloween while his owners were giving out treats and getting their kids into costumes for trick-or-treating.
The devastated parents called the veterinary practice, Animal Control Officer Donald Famico and the Salem police to see if any lost animals had been turned in. Very little sleep was achieved that night. Mom and dad scoured the neighborhood looking for Tonka and contacted everyone they knew to help them find him. They had no idea if Tonka had been lost or stolen. The next morning, their young children were so enraptured with their Halloween candy they did not notice Tonka was missing, and their wise mother got them off to school calmly without distressing them with the bad news. Then she went back about her search. - The Buzz Many wish people were more like dogs It seems some people are not dreaming of getting a puppy as a Valentine's Day gift, but rather wishing their human mates were more like a dog. And their dogs are helping them look for mates! According to an American Kennel Club survey:
- Don't fret over dog park snub: Don't fret over dog park snub Q: I'm trying not to take it personally, but my feelings are hurt. This morning when I showed up at the park where neighborhood dogs and their owners gather every day, there was one woman standing there with her dog, Daisy, a West Highland terrier. Her dog ran over to my dog, greeting us warmly. Daisy's owner was not so sunny. She responded to my bright "good morning" with a question: "Where is everybody?" She made me feel invisible. I felt like saying something nasty to her. Suddenly, my dog group feels like high school. Am I not in the popular crowd?
- Dear Abby: Savings bond gift matures into mother/daughter battle Dear Abby: I'm 30 years old and have a close relationship with my mother, but something is bothering me. When I was a little girl, my grandmother gave me a U.S. savings bond for my birthday. It has matured to its full value. My mother refuses to give it to me. She said that my grandmother intended it as a wedding gift.
- North Shore religion news in brief After 40 years of service to the church, the Rev. Canon Jurgen Liias, founding rector of Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church in Danvers, will retire following the 10:30 a.m. service on Sunday, Feb. 5. The Rev. Tim Clayton will be installed as rector of Christ the Redeemer this spring. During the interim, the Rev. Brian Barry will serve as priest-in-charge. There will be a celebration of Liias' ministry on Saturday, April 14, with a luncheon at the Danversport Yacht Club, 161 Elliott St., Danvers. Tickets may be obtained by calling 978-774-3163.
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North Shore religion calendar
Sunday, Feb. 5
Celebrating Foreign Missions, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tabernacle Church, 50 Washington St., Salem. Join church members and guests to celebrate and commemorate the ordaining and commissioning of the first missionaries who left America in 1812 for foreign missions. Speaker: the Rev. Liz Walker, ordained minister and award-winning television journalist. 10 a.m., service, honor church's missionaries from 1812; 1 to 3 p.m., historical artifacts display; 1 to 2:30 p.m., re-enactment of missionary's wife, Ann Haseltine Judson. 978-755-3164 or www.tabernaclechurch.org. -
New England Blues Festival returns to Salisbury
For some, the blues season ends in September.
Nick David is working to change that.
For the third year, David, leader of the blues band Mr. Nick & The Dirty Tricks, is bringing the New England Winter Blues Festival to the Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury. Four bands will perform on Saturday, Feb. 11, beginning at 8 p.m. - Don't eat those mushrooms Q: I have suddenly noticed a crop of mushrooms growing in one of my larger potted plants. The plant was outside all summer and then brought in in September. Two questions: Can I eat them? And will the fact that they are growing in the pot hurt the plant?
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Dear Abby: Bride wants to keep friend's lecherous husband off guest list
Dear Abby: Over the years I've stayed in touch with my childhood best friend, "Claire." We talk a few times a year and I attended her wedding 10 years ago.
In the intervening years, her husband, "Kirk," has cheated on her multiple times and was once arrested by an undercover cop when he tried to meet a 14-year-old for a sexual liaison. -
Quick picks
Sunday afternoon concert
The Salem Philharmonic's 2012 season will come to an end Sunday at 3:30 p.m. in the Salem High School auditorium, 77 Willson St. The concert will feature tenor Giovanni Formisano and the Paul Madore Chorale. Formisano, who most recently appeared in the world premiere of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" with the Longwood Opera Company, will perform his favorite arias by Donizette, Gounod and Puccini, among others. The Paul Madore Chorale will join the orchestra for a performance of American composer Randol Alan Bass' "Gloria." The Salem High School Orchestra will also join the Philharmonic for a joint performance of Shostakovich's Waltz No. 2 and Symphonic Dances from "Fiddler on the Roof." Admission is free. For more information, visit salemphilharmonic.org. - More Lifestyle Headlines
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Pet Connection: How to prevent a lost-pet crisis
Tonka, a beloved Jack Russell terrier and member of a Salem family, disappeared on Halloween while his owners were giving out treats and getting their kids into costumes for trick-or-treating.
