Gearing up for school can be daunting but for us we are pretty much all set. Lunchboxes – we are re-using the ones we had last year. Ours washed up nice and are ready for lunch! Stainless steel water bottles are being re-used as well. Backpacks- are going into their 1st, 2nd, and 4th year of use (incoming K, incoming 1st grader and incoming 3rd grader in the house).

School clothes are a mix of hand-me downs (thank you friends- and older brother) and a few new pieces so they feel excited about “new” school clothes. Pencils we have collected at various birthday parties are all sharpened up for homework and crayons are collected from what we have and everyone has their batch of colors.

Snack planning has commenced as well as what to pack for lunch for my picky youngest child. We have tupperware reusable sandwich containers which is great to save from using ziploc bags. Natural Wax paper bags are a great resource for sending in snacks and worrying a little less about the trash that results. I also send in reusable plastic silverware for the kids and may opt to send in cloth napkins as well ( I just need to find little ones).

Be sure to recycle as much as you can for this coming school year. If you have multiple kids you can sometimes repurpose one child’s backpack for the other child is you jazz it up. Glitter glue, and a glue gun can make a huge transformation or invest in a high quality backpack in K that is NOT a toddler sized one and it will last until 5th grade. It may seem like a lot to invest $30 or more for a backpack now but far better than $15/year for one that will easily rip and be replaced year after year.

Please volunteer to help North Go Green and we look forward to meeting all the new families at Back to School Night on 9/27!!!

- Thank you,

Allie Gillies

President, North Elementary PTO and GREEN lady @ North

A newly installed shark/sting-ray touch tank is great for all! A little touch tank that has some great creatures in it greets you as you enter the small yet informative museum. My kids especially enjoyed the spherical “movie” as well as the Discovery room where parents can take a much needed A/C rest and enjoy watching their kids explore with puppets, science stuff, or read! The exhibits are great and parking is curbside for 2 hrs payable with quarters or $1/hr in a local nearby lot. Check it out!

Cleaning? I let things slide as I was working this Spring and the house needs to be cleaned a bit. Do you think that smell of “clean” is good for you? Think again- our concept of clean or the smell of clean is just a chemical smell sold to us by chemical companies selling fancy soaps and cleaning products. Pine-sol smell is NOT a clean smell its toxic. So toss those chemical cleaners for lemons and baking soda and vinegar. Use a cut lemon with some baking soda for a fresh and clean shower or counter or stove-top! The baking soda acts as your “scrubbing” agent and the lemon well that is a real clean scent that is non-toxic!

Save on water this summer ! Fill that kiddie pool up and use water guns and ditch the ever-running sprinkler or set a timer for sprinkler fun to early AM or late PM (less evaporates so it will water your lawn too) and let the kids run around for 30 min and shut the water off. Save water and your water bill!

Wash the car? Nah- let the rain hit and run out with a sponge and you’ll get it washed off naturally and you’ll get a cool down too! Don’t do this of course if its stormy out just if its a natural rain storm!

Drive? Nah- ride your bike or walk to your local store for the gallon of milk or eggs you may need, or better yet visit your local farm stand! Fisher Farm is on Riverside and De-Silvia’s (I think?) is the red barn looking one on County Street. If you live in the area WALK don’t drive!

Need some A/C time- go to the library or your local coffee shop and save on your power bill. Get cooled off and then go home and enjoy a good book or a cup of coffee!

Have fun this summer and save on energy when you can! Utilize all that natural light- open those curtains in the morning and don’t turn a light on. We only turn on lights after the day gets darker to save on our power bills! It’s easy to get used to showering by natural light if you are fortunate enough to have a window in your bathroom.

Happy Summer to all of the families here at North Elementary and don’t forget to shut off the water when you brush your teeth and shut off the lights when it’s sunny out or you leave a room!

There will be a GREAT GREEN PRIZE awarded to the winners!

Entries are due Monday April 25th. We will collect them until Wednesday April 27th! Winners to be announced Friday April 29th!

Earth day is celebrated annually on Friday April 22nd. This year we have a great contest for the kids. The last page of this packet has a “What’s your Great Green Idea” contest sheet. Students should draw their “Great Green Idea” and on the back of the page write a few sentences about it. Students should return their contest entries to their teacher on Monday April 25th. We will collect entries until Wednesday April 27th. Winners will be announced on Friday April 29th. There will be one winner per grade and each winner will receive a “GREAT GREEN PRIZE!”

Happy Earth Day everyone! To learn more about earth day click here: Earth Day 2011

Got Crayons? Make New Ones!

If you are not up for making your own here is a great site to get some crayons made from recycled ones that are made into really cool shapes!  Crazy Crayons

Supplies: Use Preserve plates, cups & silverware for years of use at parties! They are made of recycled plastic right here in the USA ! Check out Preserve products here: Preserve the Party!

Decorations: Use items with low impact to the environment. Reduce, Re-use and Recycle as much as you can. Check out Green decorations and more here: Fun GREEN Party!

Food: Use organic ingredients to have the least impact. Organic cake mixes are easy to find these days and here are some great options! GOOD CAKE , YUMMO GREEN Cakes!, Save the Earth and EAT CAKE!

Gifts: If you child is of older age (8 and above) you may want to put a twist on gift giving. Request donations instead of gifts. Perhaps a birthday party to benefit the local food pantry or animal shelter? In lieu of a gift party goers bring cans of food as a donation. Reducing the waste of all the cardboard, paper and plastics used in making toys and packaging them. Most of us don’t need any more stuff so why not help others at your next Birthday party?

Green Party Ideas- check them out! And try and celebrate with family and friends for your Birthday and leave the refuse and all the rest of the “stuff” we really don’t need.