North Goes Green

There are easy ways to “Green” your school supplies. Buying products made of post-consumer waste recycled material is one way to do so. Check out this great site where you can purchase any school supply you will need! The Ultimate Green Store

Here you will find sugar-cane notebooks, scissors made with recycled plastic and more! Check it out! You can also find great “Eco-friendly” options close by as well. Staples sells some recycled items right here in Somerset. Ask a salesperson to direct you and be sure to check if the product has post-consumer waste materials. That is the best option for recycled material.

Don’t forget to Re-Use school supplies from last year. Decorate an old vinyl binder with stickers or duct tape to make it unique. Don’t throw away old notebooks- tear out the paper and recycle it! Use an old back-pack or pass it down to a sibling or pass it on to someone who can use it. Don’t just throw away items that you don’t want anymore- help others and make a “donate” bin and pass it on. There is nothing wrong with sending in 5 partially used glue sticks rather than buying 2 new ones. Go through your “junk drawer.” If it’s anything like mine you’ll find scissors, brand new pencils, scrap paper, tape and more!

Soon school will begin again. Hopefully you have all had a great summer and are ready for all that lies ahead! New adventures and new things to learn are something we can all look forward to!

There are loads of ways to be “Green” while you prepare to come back to school. Remember to Reduce your waste. Bring a re-usable shopping bag with you to eliminate using plastic bags which take 100’s of years to degrade. Re-Use school supplies from last year so you only have to buy what you actually need. Recycle as much as you can. Bring your white paper to the bin outside of North Elementary and earn extra $GREEN$ for North!

Have great GREEN tips? Send them to northgoesgreen@gmail.com and we’ll post them!

There are some great products on the market that are made of recycled plastic, are BPA free and are made here in the USA. Please check out: Preserve’s website to learn more!  There products are all made of recycled #5 plastic and are all also recyclable in turn. There is even a list of Recycling retailers in MA and RI where you can drop off your #5 plastics to be recycled.

Please do your part. Use a re-usable water bottle instead of buying bottled water. Reduce the waste in our landfills. Re-use containers until you can recycle them. Recycle any and all trash that you can to limit your contribution to the landfill. Start a compost pile and eliminate food waste from the trash stream. Do a little bit at a time and soon you’ll be GREEN too!

Did you know you can save a ton of energy if you simply turn OFF the heated dry setting on your dishwasher and let your dishes air dry?  Check out this link from the Consumer Energy Center for more dishwasher tips!

Check out Fetch- a popular PBS show with Ruff Ruffman (animated dog) as it’s host! Check out more about this great show at: PBS KIDS FETCH There are great games, and often you will find some great “Green” information as well.

The Electric Company is also a great show. Learn something new everyday! Check out games and more at: Electric Company

Let’s not forget about  The Greens on PBS Kids to learn about sustainability and “Green Living”- Meet the Greens here!

Don’t forget to shut off your computer when you are done! Use a power-strip to save even more electricity!

Thinking about going Green in 2010 can be daunting at times. Questions that might arise are: How much are you willing to change your habits? Is it hard? Do I have time to go Green?

You Can do it! I am not 100% “Green” but I try to do what I can. I began many years ago and I changed a little bit each month until it became habit and it became easier. I first set up an easy to manage recycling station. Two large white plastic trash bins for plastic recycling and 2 large tubs for paper. I also set up a 2nd wastebasket in each room for recycling paper and one in my car. Begin slowly. Don’t panic.

Shredded documents can go into your recycling, clean paper waste (like Subway wrappers (the outer ones) can be put into your recycling, the toothpaste tube cardboard boxes, paper cups you might use in your bathroom and some plastic cups (check the number on the bottom) are all things that can be recycled. In the kids room- when you put their new clothes away the paper tags can all be recycled. In your bedroom you can recycle tags from clothes, old magazines you are done reading, old torn books that can no longer be donated all can go into your recycling in. In your office- the old phone books can be recycled. Empty ink cartridges and old cell phones can be recycled right here at North!

In your kitchen- grocery receipts, anything cardboard, plastic containers rinsed and cleaned, frozen food packaging can all be recycled. Check out our recycling links page to see what our town allows your to recycle. You’d be surprised how much you can take from each room of your house and put into recycling each week rather than put into the trash and our landfills. I am proud to say that after many years we are down to one yellow Somerset trash bag per week in our house. We are a family of five and its sometimes a challenge. But now the kids ask “does this go in the White bin (for plastics) the purple bin (for paper) or the trash can Mom?” Sometimes there are plastic containers left on my counter and an extra stack of paper or two for me to go through but its worth it. Even at Christmas time we separated all the cardboard packaging that came with the kids toys and were able to put all of that in the recycle bin.  It’s worth the effort- but give yourself a break- try to change just 10-20% per month and you’ll be there in no time!

Same goes for “Greening” your food. Change slowly. With finicky eaters in my house I had to change slowly and sometimes we still battle over it but we try and we are making a dent. Good luck and if you have any Green Tips you’d like to share please email us! We’d love to hear it and share those tips with others!

Check out Eekoworld from PBS Kids. Click on our Weekly Tips page for the link! Kids can learn about our enviroment, air and water, recycling and more!

Remember that recycling is important and we can recycle a lot of things! Bring gently used books to the Reading Night at North on January 22nd and swap a book! (remember to register for program by Tuesday January 19th!) Save your paper trash from your car in a small paper bag (we all have one from a drive thru or for sending in school lunch) and recycle at the end of the week! Be sure to save any empty plastic bottles from milk or juice if you or your kids drink in the car- rinse when you get home and recycle them too! It takes a few minutes but its worth it!

The Capri Sun Program has ended. Thanks to all who participated! Our goal was to get money to get some recycle bins into the school for plastic and cardboard recycling. We are working with the Superintendent to get this done!  Thanks to all of you!

Happy Holidays to all at North Elementary! Although it sometimes can be tough to be “Green” during the holiday season you still can do some small things that will save the earth in a big way!  Turn on your lights at dusk at turn them off at 9 or 10pm to save energy! Don’t waste electricity by having them run all day long. Be sure to recycle that christmas paper. Set up a special bag for recycling on Christmas Eve to save tons of trash from going to our landfills! Better yet use recyclable bags for gift wrap this year or buy a roll of plain Kraft brown paper and decorate with crayons and ribbon. Kraft paper is made of recycled materials and you can easily recycle it after the holidays. Be sure to set up a compost pail for those food scraps during the holidays. Remember meat products do NOT go in your compost but veggie scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds and more make great compost for your spring gardens!!

Remember the Spirit of the Holidays- it’s not the “stuff” its the people we get to spend time with. Less is more. Your families will appreciate the time you spend with them, the snowman making in the back yard, the songs of the season and special conversations. Enjoy and have a very GREEN Holiday season!

Contest: “Name the Day” and win recycled school supplies! Come up with a name for our recycling day for Capri Suns (Wednesdays) at North and win a GREEN prize! Parents & students eligible to submit names. Please email suggested names to: northgoesgreen@gmail.com

Capri Suns- As of 11/16 we have 4,734 Capri Suns recycled earning North Elementary over $90! Thanks to all of you who are participating. Remember- we want to be GREEN so its even better to send in your child with a reusable water bottle for lunch! Send in Capri Suns you have been collecting at home with your child every Wednesday- we collect them Thursdays!

North Recycles Cardboard- With the help of the town all of Somerset Schools including North will begin recycling the cardboard generated at each school after Thanksgiving. Thank you Mrs. Fortin and Superintendent Medeiros for making this possible!

Send us your ideas- If you have a Green idea please email us at: northgoesgreen@gmail.com

We are always looking for new “Green Ideas.” Please email us if you have an idea to help Green North. Our parents and staff have great resources and contacts. If you know of a recycling company that might want to give a free presentation or know someone in an ec0-friendly job-field who would have some information to share with us. Please let us know. We can’t make North Green without you!

Remember to send in your child with reusable water bottles. Stainless Steel bottles are a great idea and can save money over buying wasteful bottled water. Tap water is shown to be just as good as bottled. Somerset Water tests show our water quality is excellent. Send in a reusable water bottle today!