Like many families, you may be in the process of starting the back-to-school transition. And you may be one of the many teaching their children at home this year. While this can be a big change for everyone, it can also have its perks. For instance, there are ways you can protect the environment while home-schooling. Here are eight eco-friendly home-schooling tips to kick off the school year.
1. Ditch the Single-Use Materials for Lunches and Snacks
Single-use packaged food and drink items are one of the worst environmental offenders. The majority of plastics end up in the landfill, with recycled items comprising a much smaller percentage. More than 26 million tons of plastics went into landfills in 2017, versus less than 3 million tons that were recycled that same year.
One way to be mindful of the environment is to avoid single-use plastics and other single-serving packaged items for your kids’ lunches and snacks. Find alternatives to prepackaged and single-serving foods and drinks. Whether you’re in the house all day or heading out for a field trip to a park, think reusable. This is often easier to do when you’re at home rather than hurriedly packing up school lunches the night before (or morning of).
As a bonus, reusable alternates are often cheaper over the long run than regularly purchasing single-use options.
For instance: