The top 5

August 4, 2008 | Print

Eco-Friendly School Gear

School starts in a month (or less!), and we’re thinking about what the kids will need to bring with them.

For preschool, we’ll send our kids to school with lunch, an extra set of clothes, and sometimes arts and crafts supplies.

1. Lunch bag or basket. We choose a vinyl-free, lead safe lunch bag from the lunch totes at Reusable Bags. Kelly finds the Built NY insulated bag fits her kids’ larger sized lunches best since she uses containers for their food.

Lunch baskets can be fun for preschoolers. We like this natural woven basket and the colorful rainbow lunch basket.

2. Food containers. We reuse Gladware or Ziplock snack size light plastic containers, rectangular for sandwiches. The Wrap-N-Mat works well for sandwiches too. Our kids prefer their food packed separately, but these stainless steel containers are another option.

For soups and noodles, a small thermos food jar fits well in a lunch bag. We share more thoughts about what to pack for lunch in our School Lunch Ideas.

3. Water bottle. We give the kids water a smaller sized EcoUsable bottle or Kleen Kanteen (12 or 18 oz). With Kleen Kanteen, the sports top seems easiest for them to use and reduces spills. The ecousable bottles are lighter weight which kids like, younger kids just may need help unscrewing the top.

4. Extra clothes. If we’re avoiding plastic, these large cotton drawstring bags work well for leaving clothes at school. We include extra layers for warmth (like short and long sleeve Ts in the fall). As the seasons change, we swap out to add warmer clothes. We also keep sunscreen and a sun hat in their cubbies.

5. Arts and crafts supplies. Teachers let us know what kind of art supplies they need in class. At home, we clean out our crafts drawer and set up supplies so they’re easy for the kids to get out and put away themselves.

We keep a stack of loose drawing paper next to their Stockmar drawing crayons. Old placemats are good drawing tablets. To recycle unwanted drawings, we take a few, cut them into strips, then staple at the top to use the blank side for market lists.

•