Back-to-school goes green 

Has there been enough sunshine to justify an end to the summer holidays just yet? Arguably not. Nevertheless, the new school year is almost upon us, and it’s not going to wait to see if the weather improves.

More than ever before, there are some great ideas around the web for injecting this year’s back-to-school routine with some green juice. We’ve been scouting around for the best - here’s what we found.

Ecostreet’s green back-to-school guide is full of organic, recycled and fairly-traded suggestions. Our favourite find is the Laptop Lunch box, which has lots of little compartments for different foods. It should reduce the amount of packaging you send the kids to school with (although you may have to keep tabs on all those plastic boxes).

One of the biggest demands on a parent’s wallet can be school uniform - children do have a habit of growing uneconomically fast. In the Guardian, Matt Gribble (great name) recommends trying ebay and Freecycle - the latter makes particular sense, as groups are arranged geographically. Someone in your area may well want to pass on a barely-used piece of kit discarded by their rapidly-enlarging offspring.

For some, mild September weather could be the right time to turn over a new green leaf when it comes to the school run. A staggering number of children are driven to school, even when they live within easy walking distance, but with increased concern over children’s levels of exercise as well as CO2 emissions, the backlash has started - see the Walk to School site for inspiration and practical advice.

And if you really want to get stuck into greening the very fabric of your school, there are extensive resources at Sustainable Schools.

IMAGE by Flickr user dcJohn