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Back-to-school shopping can put a real dent in a family's budget and create a carbon footprint a mile wide. Here's how you can green the shopping beast and save money, too.

� Shop at home first. Most families have enough pencils, crayons, glue, tape and markers left over from the previous year to start the new year just fine. Use up what you have on hand before buying more. Encourage your kids to reuse last year's backpack, (lead-free) lunch bag, and pencil case.

� Make a list. Before heading to the mall, figure out what you need to get and how much money you want to spend. Most kids will bring home a supplies list from school. Cross off what you already have, then create your own smaller list of needed purchases.

� Ask for greener options. When you don't find eco-friendly products at the store, ask the manager to order green for your future purchases.

� Rent or borrow. When it comes to musical instruments, sporting equipment, and tools for one- time classes like home economics or woodworking, figure out which items your child can rent or borrow. This is particularly good for musical instruments - do you really want to buy a tuba just because your child is giving it a try this year?

eco lunch box
Avoid soft plastic carriers that contain lead, PVC, or containers treated with the antibacterial agent triclosan. You'll find good options at:

ReusableBags.com
Laptop Lunch Box
Mimi the Sardine
Cool Totes
Gigglefish

Get more information on safe lunch boxes here. While you're at it, replace sandwich baggies with re- usable sandwich wrappers available from Wrap-n-Mat.

eco school supplies
Paper
Choose brands made from post-consumer waste and bleached without chlorine:
Dolphin Blue
Greenline
New Leaf
Ampad offers recycled, chlorine-free binder paper, available from Staples.com Or you could go "treeless" with EcoPaper's chlorine-free notebooks made from banana paper.

Notebooks
For fun recycled, PVC-free notebooks, EcoJot is hard to beat. You might be able to find plain recycled paper on the shelf at Office Depot.

Pencils and Pens
Forest Ethics recommends Forest Choice or Eco-Writer pencils made from recycled wood instead of Ticonderoga's standard #2 model carved out of California's Sierra Nevada forests. A better option? A mechanical pencil that can be refilled, not landfilled.

Woody ballpoint pens from The Green Office contain nontoxic ink whose recycled cartridges can be refilled.

Miscellaneous School Supplies
If you want to make it really easy on yourself, check out The Green Office back to school supplies kit. Three different kits meet the needs of kids in grades k-2, 3-5, and 6-8.


Still want more? See Nature Mom's recommendations.

Getting college kids ready to return to school? Here's how I did it. By the way, if you want to pass this information along to a friend, just click on the Forward button right below my signature.

Talk to you again soon,

Diane's Photo
Diane MacEachern
Big Green Purse

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