What time is it? It's Back-to-School time!
It’s that time of year again that children dread and parents love. It’s the time when school is back in session. Students are sad because summer vacation is over, and parents must prepare for the upcoming school year. This year, work on becoming more environmentally conscious using these tips and tricks and make the school year a little easier on both you and your children.
Pack a no-waste lunch: Instead of taking the time to go buy sandwich bags, disposable water bottles, and plastic silverware, consider choosing reusable containers to hold your children’s food. All you need to do is just wash out the reusable container for use the next day. You won’t be emitting pollutants constantly driving to replenish those lunch items your children will go through quickly. If you are interested in receiving a free Air North Texas silicone lunch container, email us at airnorthtexas@nctcog.org with your name and address and we’ll send one your way!
Gather disposable items: Donate them to the school for art projects, but first check with the art department or your child’s teacher to see if there is a use for these items. These items can include but are not limited to toilet paper rolls, paper bags, soda cans, wood, and Styrofoam. Items that would end up in landfills will now become a beautiful piece of art students can proudly take home. Click here for more tips on how you can help create a more sustainable school environment.
Create a carpool community: Get together with members of your community to determine who you can carpool with. This is an important step in helping improve air quality because you are limiting the number of vehicles on the road emitting pollution. This will also give you a morning break on the days when you are not driving. The Nextdoor app is a great way to get in contact with other parents to get a carpool going in your neighborhood.
Teach an environmental lesson: Teach your children to keep the environment in mind with everything they do throughout the school day. For example, make sure they know they can you use every piece of paper (front and back) in their notebooks, educate them on what items in their lunch can be recycled, and ask if they would like to walk or bike home (if the distance from home to school is within reason). Here are some more good ideas to help you stay sustainable throughout the year.
These are just a few actions you can implement to start the school year off on a sustainable note. Consider air quality and the health of our planet in everything you do. You may even come to realize this will make this school year just a little bit easier.
