Zero waste back to school

It's the end of summer vacation and the start of the new school year. School supplies have been appearing in stores for at least a month. Not only plastic-coated notebooks, but also different types of crayons, markers, colored highlighters, pastels, paints, rulers, drawing pads and of course backpacks, bags, etc. Our children dream of a completely new school bag and pencil case, different from the previous school year. Every year we bring home a sea of plastic and foil packaging with the school equipment. For the sake of the environment and the state of our wallets, it is worth over thinking about a Zero Waste layette.

Zero waste school supplies

At the beginning, before we plunge into the madness of shopping, it's worth taking a look at what's hidden in the corners, drawers and cupboards of our children's desks. It may turn out that so many Pens, pencils, erasers, crayons and sharpeners are that no new ones have to be bought. When it comes to a backpack, you don't have to buy a new one every year. So it is best to choose one universal modelthat appeals to both ten and fourteen year olds, and replace it when it's actually damaged beyond repair. We will go shopping when we check what we are missing and try when buying new things, select ecological, for example:

• all kinds of bags for shoes or PE outfit can be choose cotton instead of polyester,
• instead of packing a drink in a plastic bottle in the backpack every day, let the child prepare water in a bottle or tea in a thermos,
• Reusable breakfast boxes or wax pads are a better choice than, for example, ready-made croissants packed in plastic bags,
• all kinds of highlighters, markers and pens are available in eco version, i.e. made of recycled materials, made of cornstarch, cork or paper, and rulers and sharpeners, made of wood or metal,
• Instead of rubber bands made of latex or PVC, i.e. plastic, you better choose the natural ones that are marked as "latex-free",
• Ecological pencil cases can be made of natural cork, wood, canvas or metal.

Rules for completing a zero waste school kit

To all the steps of preparing a child for the new school year as defined by Summarizing Zero Waste in a simple way, we should remember some of the most important rules, namely:

• we check what I already have at home - Crayons, pens, notebooks, backpack, sack etc.,
• anything you can buy used (from friends, in groups on the Internet),
• When we have to buy new products, we look for them in an ecological version , let them be made of natural materials or materials that can be recycled.

These few ideas will help us Reduce plastic consumption as much as possible, to reduce costs and extend the lifespan of some school supplies when we use them again. First, let's not be fooled by the ubiquitous advertising and promotions, thanks to which producers tell us that our kids need all these new things. Let's according to that Basic principle of Zero Waste Refrain from buying really unnecessary material. Let's think about it, is it really necessary to buy a new backpack and pencil case every year, especially if the one isn't damaged from the previous year? When shopping, let's try to limit plastic by choosing items made from natural materials.