It’s back-to-school season in Texas. Wondering how you can make this school year your most sustainable yet? We’ve rounded up some resources for both teachers and parents alike.
Let’s start with the parents…
- The Sustainable Food Center has put together a great blog post with tips and ideas for making healthy and delicious school lunches.
You can read it here>> - For an eco-friendly option to pack all of those school lunches in, check out Blue Avocado. They’re a local company that sells reusable ziplock bags, which means that you don’t have to produce a bunch of waste every time you put some pretzels or carrot sticks into your kid’s lunchbox. You can shop for their products online here>>
- Looking for inexpensive school supplies? Austin Creative Reuse sells a wide variety of markers, notebooks, stickers, and other craft items at a fraction of the price of most other office supply stores. Plus, everything they sell is rescued from the landfill and helps to support a creative reuse economy right here in Austin.
photo from Austin Creative Reuse
And now for the teachers…
- Austin Creative Reuse is also a great place for you to find inexpensive school supplies and bulk craft items for school projects. In the back of the store they have a section where you can fill an entire bucket for only $5. They also put out a regular educator’s newsletter with ideas and tips on how to incorporate reuse into the classroom, which you can subscribe to here. And last but not least, they’re currently in the process of putting together an educator’s committee, to brainstorm more ideas about how Austin Creative Reuse can better serve teachers. If you’d like to serve on the committee, you can send an email to educators@austincreativereuse.org.
- If you’d like to bring environmental education into your classroom, you can also check out EcoRise Youth Innovations, a local nonprofit organization that provides standards-aligned K-12 curricula that introduces students to environmental literacy, social innovation, and hands-on design skills. You can look through their free and premium lesson plans here. If you’d like more information, or would like to bring EcoRise to your school, you can contact them here.
- If you’re looking for a fun way to teach your students about urban ecology, recycling, or water quality, you can always check out a free activity kit from Keep Austin Beautiful. Activity kits are stocked with supplies and an easy-to-follow lesson plan. You can learn more about the types of kits available (as well as how to reserve them) here>>
And for more eco-friendly back-to-school tips (for both teacher and parents) be sure to check out the latest podcast from our radio partner, Shades of Green. During the episode we interview guests from Austin Creative Reuse and EcoRise, diving deeper into what these organizations do and what benefits they provide back to the community. You can listen to it here>>
