Seems like it was only yesterday that they broke up but, believe it or not, it’s pretty much the start of the new term! You know what that means, more school supplies.
Of course, the most environmentally friendly way of preparing for the new term is not to buy anything new. Try instead to get hand-me-downs and second-hand goods instead of new. But that’s not always possible of course - so here are our five back to school green essentials.
Plastic lunchboxes, temporary, fragile and part of the world’s serious plastic pollution problem. China alone produces 15 billion plastic lunchboxes per year a significant contribution to the 8m tonnes of plastic worldwide that end up in our oceans.
The alternative is an ethically produced, food grade, stainless steel lunchbox - such as Elephant Box.Our Elephant Box is a lunchbox for a proper lunch, it’s 220mm wide, 150mm long and 85mm deep. It has a capacity of two litres, is easy to clean and will stay that way its whole life.
Plastic water bottles - there is little that represents our worst traits or is more damaging for the environment. Global annual consumption of plastic water bottles is set totop half a trillion by 2021. This is far outside of what current recycling efforts can cope with and is jeopardising oceans, coastlines and other oceans. At current rates global consumption is set at one million plastic bottles per minute.
Term time can contribute massively to our consumption of plastic water bottles. All that running around, sports and working away is thirsty work after all.
As an alternative use an ethically produced, food grade, stainless steel water bottle such as our 750ml water bottle.
Our water bottle is made of 100% stainless steel, making it easy to clean and ensures that it won’t retain any odours or taste. What’s more, 10p from every purchase goes to Refill.org.uk - a brilliant campaign from City to Sea which encourages businesses to let people refill their water bottles for free.
Children’s feet grow so fast don’t they! The new term can mean new shoes all round. One of our favourite makers of environmentally friendly, vegan shoes is Green Shoes; a collective and collaborative organisation in Totnes, Devon that was started in 1981.
High street brands are also getting in on the eco-friendly footwear trend, with Joules, Clarks and others taking steps to improve their sustainability.