Lunchtime!!! - Day 18

"Lunchtime trash is second only to office paper as the leading source of school waste." (Green Teacher magazine, Fall 2004)

Bringing your own lunch is usually more cost effective (and healthier), and with the exception of the occasional purchased lunch when there is nothing left in the house to send, my kids, hubby, and I bring their own lunches to school and work. We use reusable lunch bags and eliminate the waste of paper lunch bags.

Rosebud noticed that her friend brought paper bag lunches and asked her why she didn't use a reusable bag. She pointed out that trees were killed to make the paper bags that were used only once and not recycled, and that the trees are good for the environment. Her friend said that it was easier, and that way she didn't have to go back to her locker to put away the reusable lunch bag. Hmmm, she does return to her locker every day, so that reasoning didn't make sense to Rosebud. Rosebud, once again you are making me proud just for questioning your friend and pointing out the obvious facts. Who knows, maybe your friend will have a change of heart and choose a reusable lunch bag to use instead :)

Schools need to learn/teach more about recycling - Day 12

Ok, so it makes NO sense that in the kids' lunchrooms they do NOT have recycle bins! What kind of example is that? Why wouldn't they have bins? No one wants to empty them? I mean it would cut down on the amount of garbage, and that would save the schools money. They do recycle paper from the classrooms, so why not plastic bottles, yogurt containers, fruit cup containers, plastic spoons etc? I mean most families recycle in our town, so the kids already know the system, and if they DON'T recycle at home, they should....those that didn't already know about recycling could LEARN it at school and teach their families. Hmm I wonder how hard it would be to convince the schools to recycle?

Books - Day 6

I'm catching a bit of spring fever, and as a result things are getting cleaned out!  We've purged some books and movies, and instead of throwing them away, we donated them to our local library for reuse and re-enjoyment :)  Please don't ever throw out books or media, someone will happily reuse them whether it is the library, local doctor or dentist's office, or school.  Some libraries and schools do book swaps or book sales with donated books and media.  It feels good to give to others, and it feels good to declutter, it's a WIN-WIN!  Happy donating!