With the school year wrapping up, soon alarm clocks, schedules and homework will be forgotten for a few months as kids enjoy the summer.
Now is a good time to properly go through books, notes and school supplies. It can save you some dough for next year, and it can also help the environment.
Students, teachers and parents can all make a difference in reducing waste at the end of the school year by practicing waste reduction and recycling.
Here are some recycling tips to remember:
• When cleaning out your backpack or locker, think about items that can be donated or reused for summer art projects.
• Recycle old paper and save binders and folders for reuse next school year.
• Many schools reuse text books to save money and reduce waste. Share your used books with friends or younger siblings.
• Save items that can be reused like refillable pens and pencils, and rechargeable batteries for next school year.
• Help your teacher clean out the classroom to ensure items no longer of use get donated to someone who can use them and other items get recycled.
Dried-out markers, empty glue sticks and other used items can have a second life with these recycling programs:
• Staples, the office supply store, offers $2 in rewards per recycled ink cartridge.
• Fill a bag with used writing utensils — pens, pencils, highlighters and Google “Writing Instruments Brigade” for a free shipping label. This initiative, which includes participation from PaperMate and Sharpie, turns old writing utensils into plastic storage bins.
• Crayola’s ColorCycle program turns used markers into fuel for cars. Get a free shipping label to send your markers to a conversion facility.
• Classrooms participating in Elmer’s Glue Crew can collect empty glue sticks and bottles throughout the year to send to a recycling center using free downloadable shipping labels. There, old glue holders are transformed into new products like plastic bins.