Sustainable Back-to-School Supplies at Bigelow

Bigelow just published the school supply lists for next year! The PTO invites you to think about school supplies in a sustainable way.

We invite all families to reduce your school shopping list by reusing items that are still in good conditions. This can save money, will reduce waste and it can be a great opportunity to embrace our sustainable values with our children. There’s a reason reduce & reuse come before recycle – not just because it sounds good, but it’s the order in which we should approach sustainability.

Working with your students when school is over:

  • Empty backpacks, pencil cases, binders, folders.
  • Clean everything (a swipe of rubbing alcohol can remove marker and make everything looks like new).
  • Organize pens, pencils, markers, scissors, calculators, etc.
  • Take out the used pages of notebooks and evaluate if the notebook can be reused in school or at home.

Then compare the supply list suggested by the school with what you have organized and cleaned. You might find out that there’s very little to buy! A good investment for next year is a reusable water bottle – the classes of 2017 and 2018 have gifted the school with water fountains.

8th Gr. Supply List | 7th Gr. Supply List | †6th Gr. Supply List | World Languages Supply List

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