Back to School Green Tips

Back to School Green Tips (College Students)

1. Swap and Sell

• Re-use other student’s textbooks and let them use yours for free. Checkout PaperBackSwap.com, Textbook Rush and SellBackYourBook.com. You only pay shipping. 
• Instead of having a shopping spree at the mall organize a clothing swap among your friends. 
• Go to flea markets, consignment shops and thrift stores. Someone’s old skinny jeans could become your new favorite piece of clothing.

2. Embrace Tap

• When you're out at the bar, buy beer on tap (that's served in a washable beer mug) rather than bottled beer. Not only are you decreasing waste and your carbon footprint, your having fun at the same time. Love this simple promotional tasting glass we offer! USA Made Tasting Glass

3. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

• Don't throw away that halfway printed page or rough draft paper, use the other side for scrap paper. Create your own post-it notes or notebook for classes.
• If you’re looking to reduce your waste—and the total price at the bottom of your receipts—buy used books, electronic books (E-books), or rent them. 
• Used textbooks are often available for half off or more in campus book-stores, and web sites such as e-Campus and Amazon carry a broad selection of used titles. 
• Online textbooks are also a great idea, in order to reduce both your costs and strain on your backpack. 
• Talk to your professors. Some of them make textbooks available to check out in libraries. 
• Renting books is a growing option that helps to reduce the amount of books being created, saving energy and trees. Check out Campus Book Rentals and Book Renter: they rent college textbooks for a fraction of what you might spend at a campus bookstore. The money saved by recycling 1% of the schoolbooks sold every year could send more than 4,000 students to a four-year public college.

4. Monitor Electronics

• To reduce the energy consumption of your computer, download a free energy-saving application such as Local Cooling or CO2 Saver. 
• When it comes to your computers, graphing calculators, printers, and any other electronics. Unplug things when you don’t use them, turn the lights off when you leave the room, and purchase rechargeable batteries instead of new. 
• Invest in a Smart Power Strip: the strip stops drawing electricity from appliances that are turned off, meaning you don’t have to remember to switch the strip on and off every time. Sounds like something that could be useful all over the house, doesn’t it?

5. Spend Less Time in the Shower

• Just by reducing your shower time by about 2 minutes, you can save up to 1,000 ibs of CO2 from being emitted into the air. You will use less electricity to heat the water, as well as conserve water. Click here for our eco-friendly promotional shower timers.

Back to School Green Tips (K-12)

1. Purchase Recycled

• Look for recycled backpacks and other school products. Check out products like TerraCycle, also check retailers such as Target and Office Max for brands such as Pilot and Post-It have all embraced the green trend. Click here for our great selection of recycled promotional green office supplies. And check out our recycled promotional pens and pencils.

2. Learn the School Bus Schedule, Start a Carpool, Get on Your Feet

• If your child stays late for music lessons or soccer club, check the schools extended bus schedule to accommodate for after school activities. 
• Assemble a “walkpool:” chaperoning a group on foot to and from school. 
• Walk. Only 31% of kids who live less than a mile away from school walk there. Half go by car. If just 6% of those who go by car walked, it would save 60 thousand gallons of gasoline a day!

3. Don’t Overbuy

• Back to School shopping can be fun, but don’t be tempted to buy more than you need. 
• Before you even go shopping, check what you already have in stock.
• Ask yourself questions such as: Did my child really use all 500 sheets of paper I bought last year? Is every single pencil worn down to the nub? Only buy what you really need for the school year.

4. Conserve at Lunchtime

• Taking a brown paper bag filled with baggies or pre-packaged snacks to school every day adds up to a lot of trash. Invest in a lead free lunch box, reusable plastic containers,  and cloth napkins. 
• Just by eliminating all that daily wasted plastic and paper, your child could save 67 pounds of garbage a year. 
• Lead by example and tote your own lunchbox to work. Check out our waste-free lunch promotional items.

5. Encourage Your School to Go Green 

• Schools collect tons of waste every year. Students and parents can talk to school officials about decreasing waste and recycling. Tell your school and friends about your green back to school ideas. One voice can make a great impact.