A Green School and Classroom

With the arrival of fall we turn our attention to how we can ensure a healthy and eco-friendly school environment for our children.

Here are a few suggestions for parents interested in taking more sustainable steps towards creating a greener school and classroom.


Raise Awareness of Environmental Issues
Many schools have started to form green committees that are responsible for looking at environmental issues and planning out what steps need to be taken.  Check whether your school already has an established group and if not consider starting one.  Teachers can also incorporate environmental topics in their lesson plans where possible.

Promote an Active Recycling Program
If your school does not recycle or compost, find out why and see if a program can be started.  Even something simple like encouraging both sides of paper to be used or minimizing paper forms and messages can be a great start.

Pack a Waste Free Lunch
One common statistic often cited is that every child generates about 67 pounds of garbage every year from their school lunches.  This comes from juice boxes, disposable bags, single serving packaging, sandwich wrapping, water bottles etc.

By taking a few simple steps when preparing a school lunch much of this waste can be reduced placing less of a burden on our landfills.  You can use reusable lunch containers,  stainless steel cutlery instead of disposable plastic ones, and reduce the use of plastic baggies, paper napkins, and single use drink containers.  Packing a litter-free lunch helps the environment and saves you money in the end.

Use Less Toxic Cleaning Products
Many cleaning products, although effective, contain toxic chemicals that can be harmful to children.  If green cleaning products aren't being used in your school see whether some changes can be made.

Minimize Transportation Pollution
Considerable pollution is generated from school busses and cars idling while waiting for children.  Adjusting schedules, creating idle free zones, carpooling, or even walking to and from school on occasion will reduce the amount of emissions that are generated.  Schools have started organizing a Walking School Bus Program.  More information is available below in the list of resources.

Use Green School Supplies
Make sure that all school supplies, lunch and school bags are PVC free.  The Center for Health, Environment and Justice has put together a detailed document outlining the problem and providing tips to avoid toxic plastics in school related products (see link below).


Useful Resources:

Guide To PVC-Free School Supplies

Pack A Waste-Free Lunch

Waste-Free Lunch Tips

Eco-Friendly Back-to-School Products

Walking School Bus Program

Compostable Products Store

At Go Green In Stages we have always offered a selection of popular compostable tableware products including bagasse plates, Ecotainer coffee cups as well as corn based (PLA) glasses and cutlery. 


We are pleased to announce the expansion of our compostable products line to include a wider array of items and sizes of environmentally friendly food service packaging.

This includes more sizes for cups, glasses, and plates as well as the addition of  compostable bagasse or PLA takeout containers, sample cups and food service accessories.


If you are switching to greener, more sustainable products for your Office Lunch Room, School Cafeteria, Restaurant Takeout Counter, Conference or Company Meetings, Special Events and Festivals then our eco-friendly compostable items are an ideal choice.

Compostable Products Resource Center

We are also building up an online resource center dedicated to information on compostable products.  Visit our site to inform yourself on the various issues relating to disposable tableware, takeout packaging and environmentally friendly alternatives.  If, for example, you are not familiar with PLA and why it is better than plastic, we have a link to a poster explaining how it is made. 

Remember that we continue to add information to the site so please check back with us once in a while.

You can get more information on switching to eco-friendly tableware and takeout products by visiting our Compostable Products Store.

 

150 Years of Oil Production

For most people August 27th, 2009 came and went without much fanfare.  What was interesting about that day was that it marked the 150th anniversary of the start of commercial oil production.  Before that, people used oil sporadically but nobody was able to extract it in an economically viable way.

150 years ago in Titusville, Pennsylvania, a man named Edwin Drake devised a method of drilling for oil.  He struck oil at a depth of 69 feet on August 27th, 1859.  The rest, as they say, is history.

This event marked the beginning of commercial oil production which led to the development of many industries including automotive and plastic.

Thanks to oil, we have lived through an era of cheap energy which made long distance transportation cost effective, facilitated globalization and even made suburbia possible.

We are now either approaching or have past a point called Peak Oil where the amount of oil we have left to extract from the earth is less than half of what we started with.  This effectively marks the beginning of the decline of the oil industry as these non-renewable resources start to run out.  Nobody really associates Pennsylvania with oil production because any oil that was there has long run out.  The same thing will eventually happen to every oil-producing region in the world.

Worldwide we currently use about 85 million barrels of oil every day.  There are 42 gallons or 160 liters of oil in one barrel.  People assume that new oil fields are continuing to be discovered.  Although technically true, these are either small ones or located where it becomes extremely expensive to access the oil.  Next time you hear of an oil field discovery do a quick calculation to see what it really means.  For example, a discovery of  a billion barrels of oil may seem like a big amount but it represents about two weeks of worldwide consumption.

If you are interested in Peak Oil and how it will affect our current way of living, take a look at these videos:

 

Understanding Peak Oil

Oil at 150

Edwin Drake - biography

Edwin Drake on Wikipedia

If you haven't had a chance to check out our twitter page please take a moment to visit.  We post interesting links to environmental issues we come across that our readers may enjoy as well as provide updates on any products we carry on our site.