Back to School

Rise to the top of the class with our smart green tips.

Supplies | Getting There | Lunchtime | Books | Study

Shopping for Supplies

Before you're dazzled by a super-sized pack of highlighters (on sale!) or a fancy eraser set, take stock of the school supplies you already have and avoid impulse purchases.

Sturdy items like folders and backpacks can be reused for several years. And chances are you already have an ample supply of pens and pencils in your family's catch-all drawer.
Come to the store armed with a list so you won't be tempted to buy things you don't need.
When it's time to buy new items, make sure those "new" paper and pens have a history. Look for paper with a high percentage of post-consumer recycled content. Bargain hunters might want to check out New Leaf's back-to-school sale. Other fun items on the market this year include Greenline's Zebra Eco Gel Pen, which is made from recycled CDs and cell phones.

Don't Idle

As cash-strapped school districts cut back on bus service, more students will walk, bicycle, or carpool to class this year. Not every parent is comfortable allowing a kid to hoof it alone, so the line of cars idling in front of the elementary school could grow. If you find yourself waiting in a car:

Turn off the engine. According to the California Energy Commission, 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than turning off an engine and restarting it. The EPA is concerned about emissions from school buses' diesel engines, so the agency started Clean School Bus USA, an idle-reduction campaign.
If fuel savings and pollution reduction don't convince you to rest that engine, consider that idling actually causes more wear on internal engine parts than driving at normal speeds.

Eat Smart

Don't count the cafeteria out--ingredients for school lunches are usually bought in bulk (less packaging) and school chefs are notorious for recycling Monday's green beans into Tuesday's green-bean casserole (less food waste).

In recent years, many K-12 and college cafeterias have improved their fare, offering more healthy, organic, and locally grown foods.

But if dietary restrictions, food allergies, or personal tastes compel you to bring your own lunch, opt for reusable containers and minimal packaging. Chow down on smart foods like walnuts, berries, greens, and fish, which researchers claim are good for the brain.

Recycle Textbooks

From forest to landfill, the book-publishing industry emitted about 12.4 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2006. Here's what you can do to reduce your share of that:

Choose used textbooks. Bookbyte.com, Campus Book Swap, and Buy Used Textbooks let you buy and sell.
Want to make your purchasing power to do double duty? Pick up that required copy of The Catcher in the Rye from Better World Books and your money will help fund literacy programs worldwide. Better World Books also accepts donations of "no-value" books; they've already saved 6,500 tons of tomes from landfills.

Study the Earth

The good news: Students are biking to class and recycling their textbooks. The bad news: They aren't necessarily being taught why these habits benefit the earth.

According to a recent study conducted by the National Wildlife Federation, fewer environmental classes, majors, and faculty programs are offered today than seven years ago. In 2001, 80 percent of undergraduates had taken at least one course on the basic functions of the earth's natural systems; in 2008, however, only 69 percent of undergrads are learning about the planet.
Greening your school might start with a campus-wide switch to compact fluorescent lamps, but don't forget the "light bulb" inside your head. Demand to receive an education that'll keep you in the eco-loop. If your school's administration is slow to react, don't waste time--start learning with these essential environmental books. Continue to supplement your reading list with selections from Sierra's bookshelf at powells.com.