Here’s a link to google photos of the Island of Trash found in our oceans.

Children are interested, open and willing to learn. If your example is one of recycling, turning down the hot water heater, buying in bulk or biking rather than driving around the block your kids and students will notice and begin to absorb this information. The more they see your example the more they will begin to emulate you and  practice their own greener living measures. Possibly you and your family or your students can volunteer for oil spill clean up,  or volunteer in your city or town for a clean up day. Every action is one step toward protecting our natural resources and our planet.

Earth

With movies like, Inconvenient Truth, Earth and Planet Earth children develop a deeper understanding of our planet and protecting our natural resources. Earth Day celebrations are another resource. They offer a multitude of ideas to support Greener Living. In fact on this Earth Day site you can find Earth Day projects, activities, crafts and lessons to use with students to raise awareness of Greener Living. Here’s the perfect way to begin building student awareness  Using Mad Green Skills to Generate Less Cafeteria Trash and 8 Simple Ways to Reduce Plastic in the Classroom. Every baby step we take toward protecting the earth is one step forward toward greener living and deepening environmental education. Here is a  Lesson Machine link to teacher tips for recycling and reusing classroom craft supplies. What steps can you take today?

Photo Credit Aussie Gall

This review is for the title Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea, by Alice Waters.

This book tells the story of how a garden transformed a middle school in crisis.

What started as a simple project blossomed into an elaborate legacy that has lasted for years. Through intense community, teacher and student involvement, along with Alice Waters’ commitment and vision, a middle school now has a food program that embraces students holistically throughout their entire careers at the school.

Others are taking this schoolyard’s lead and starting their own unique school gardens. I see this program as one that could also be used for therapeutic recreation purposes, or at the community level.

Check out Alice Waters’ book and be inspired.

Photo Credit: Chronicle Books.

1. Educate the students and change language they use. The first week of school, expectations need to be set up, they need to walk through and have changes explained and understand why they are doing it.

2. When they are finished eating, they ask to be excused to recycle. Don’t say throw away your trash, ask if they are ready to recycle.

3. Set up stations. Have the garbage bins set up with labels. They will need a bin to put food scraps in, one for plastics, one for paper, one for milk cartons, one for wtaer bottles. Many plastic bottle recyclers need the bottles with lids off and empty, so you will need a bucket for them to empty remaining water into before the bin for the empty bottles.

4. Have students be involved with the recyling process. Don’t use it as a punishment to help clean the lunchroom- have it be a rotating job classes take turns doing.

5. Try to do a tie in field trip to one of the recycling facilities the school’s waste goes to.

6. Depending how far you want to take the process you can set up a school garden with a compost bin. If you are going to compost the school food leftovers, the students will need to be taught which foods can go in the composting bin and which ones cannot. Raised beds can be built (get parents/community donations and build them on a weekend, or better yet have the kids help build them.  * Tie in with math objectives- tell students what size the raised beds area nd have them figure out how much wood is needed to build them!  Figure out how much soil is needed to put inside them.  The students can approach local gardening companies for donations of things needed- tie it in to literacy and letter writing.  The students can plant and then care for plants or flowers.
(Is anyone starting to see a whole school, cross-curricular unit built around this process!)

7. Capri sun has a great program your school can sign up to be a part of. Go to: terracycle.net
The student’s empty juice pouches are collected and sent in. Each pouch is worth .02 cents and they make things out of them. Your school needs to sign up for the program. You will need a separate bin for the juice pouches. It could be carried further and families could save them at home and send it to add to the lunch collection. (Our house has saved 150 pouches in 2 months-some I have grabbed after baseball games!)

The students will learn that recycling is not hard and benefits the earth. If tie ins can be made (through either a trip to the recycling plant or having the recyclers come do a school talk) and having your students involved in all steps will open their eyes. Most of them just throw their trash away and don’t give it another thought. Making them aware will help us all!

Photo Credit: Chriss BB

A situation came up at The Lesson Machine / Lesson Mag office recently that put us in a bit of a conundrum. It got me thinking about how many of us might be contributing to serious environmental problems in spite of all our classroom recycling efforts. Read on to find out what happened, how we responded, and join in the discussion of how you can address the same issue in your own classroom.

Having switched to bamboo and stainless steel drinking straws some time ago, it’s been some time since any plastic ones made it across our doorstep. However, my husband is going to school full time right now to become a science teacher, and a recent model he was required to build and photograph required plastic drinking straws. They needed to be certain colors, so the small packs were out of the question. Off to the party supply aisle we went, purchasing a large box of several different colors suitable for this particular science model.

While we accepted that it was a necessary purchase and we were going to have to deal with the fact that it was counterproductive to our plastic reduction efforts, the excess straws left us with a quandary. Toss them or use them?
In the end, we decided if they were going to end up in the landfill anyway, they really should be used before we toss them. For purposes of this article however, I pose the following questions:

• How many other teachers are using straws instead of sticks for student-created puppets? I know I have in the past.
• How many of those little foam decorations are necessary for art supplies when paper scraps and fabric remnants would work just as well?
• What simple changes can we all make in our selection of classroom craft materials to help reduce our overall consumption of supplies (namely plastic) that don’t biodegrade safely?

Sound off below, and be sure to add a link in your comment to any online article or image you may have posted of your particular idea, lesson or project. Related Reading: 8 Simple Ways to Reduce Plastic in the Classroom.

Photo Credit: Respres

OK. We all know about the plastic bag dilemma. Additionally, most of us are trying to use at least a few cleaning and personal care products that are less toxic. The recycling gig is also familiar to many. But when I recently read about the Pacific garbage patch (North Pacific gyre) on Beth Terry’s web site, Fake Plastic Fish, I found myself completely overwhelmed.

This thing is enormous, people. I’ve seen a fair bit in my lifetime. And I can honestly say it takes quite a bit to shock me, let alone bring me to my knees. When I started researching this phenomenon and saw just how enormous it was, I had to sit down and physically get control of my emotions. I felt physically ill. How can one person feel like what they do makes a difference? And yet, how can anyone sit and do nothing? Beth has done such an amazing job of providing inspiration and information to us. While I’m not sure I can get to her level overnight, she has made me think about what more I can do with my purchasing decisions. Schools generate an enormous amount of trash. When it comes to your classroom, how much of your room’s waste is plastic? Here are a few simple strategies to get you started. I’ll post more information and product reviews as I come across the resources. In the meantime, here we go:

1.Use a refillable tape dispenser.

This alone eliminates the casings the regular rolls come in. Yes, you still have the tape itself, but it’s a start that makes a significant waste reduction.

2.Create your classroom supplies list carefully.

Whether you hand your list out at the end of the year, or have it available for pickup in August, your list has the power to make a huge impact. Consider recommending refillable pens for intermediate grades, stainless steel pencil sharpeners and refillable stainless steel water bottles.

3.Buy your supplies in bulk, particularly things like liquid and powdered tempera, hand sanitizer, lotion, etc.

It’s difficult to find plastic free packaging on some of these things, but by purchasing in bulk you’ll have fewer containers to dispose of.

4.Be more conscious of the teacher supplies you purchase and use.

Your students look to you as a a strong example. Consider a non plastic lunch tote, or wire bins for supply storage.

5.Chalk.

Rather than go for the plastic packaged markers and white board for every single lesson, get back to basics with a blackboard and chalk. Bonus? It’s cheap.

6.Rubber stamps.

I think stickers are fun too, but some of them are enormous and not exactly made of paper. A fun stamp with colorful ink will still reinforce quality work in a way the kiddos can get excited about. They also make stamps to fit in the small squares on reinforcement charts.

7.Composition books.

When asking students to bring in several journals for various subjects, request that they skip the ones with plastic covers and go with the old fashioned paperboard bound composition books.

8.An eco bag fund raiser.

This’ll get the ball rolling, and now is a great time to do it . . . BEFORE everyone buys their kids plastic versions. The folks over at EcoBags.Com gave me the link to their Earth friendly fund raising program. I’ll be reviewing the product individually in the next few weeks right here on Lesson Mag. (So stay tuned.)

Got another classroom plastic reduction tip? Share your information in the comment section below. This post was written in support of the Green Moms carnival, which will be hosted on April 14th, 2009 over at Fake Plastic Fish. For other going green in the classroom information, check out our cloth bulletin board post, and this post on affordable classroom greening strategies.

Photo Credit: Tourist on Earth

I don’t have to tell you how much paper consumption goes in to our yearly bulletin boards. I also don’t have to tell you just how tedious it is to get them ready and keep them rolling every year. Looking to save paper and a little bit of your precious time? Read on.

Cloth is a colorful, creative and eco friendly way to go when it comes to selecting a bulletin background. Bonus? You can reuse it year after year. Simply select a solid background color a bit larger than the cork surface of your board. Press or lightly steam the fabric, and staple tautly and smoothly to the bulletin. Using a sharp Exacto knife, trim the cloth to the edges of the board frame. If you’re super confident in your measuring skills, consider having it custom cut at the fabric store and skipping the aggravation of trimming altogether. You can do this with many different fabrics, including a dark colored cotton to ground the room, burlap for texture, or felt for additional use as an old fashioned flannel board. In addition to being the green way to go, cloth backgrounds have some other perks as well. A few of note?

• It’s fade resistant.
• Staple and tack holes disappear.
• If a substitute teacher does tape something to it, you won’t have tear marks staring you in the face and begging to be recovered.

Need some ideas for trim? Rope or braiding works great for an ocean or nautical theme, or visit a bulk discount fabric store for other trims such as flat, non fringed ethnic trims that are a bit wider, or thin belt fabric.

Got another idea for a great fabric bulletin board? Share it with us!

Photo Credit: Yaronimus Maximus

Wanting to do your ecological part in the classroom and needing to conserve supplies at the same time? Then maybe it’s time to give some serious consideration to repurposing the standard paper sheet protector.

Traditionally used for keeping black-line masters in good condition, portfolio assessment or corporate presentations, these little gems can help you save money, preparation time and yes, paper. Following are some ways to use them effectively in today’s classroom.

Read-aloud play preservation.

Big on readers’ theater in your program? Print them out, along with companion glossaries, and place the individual collated copies into color coordinated three-hole report covers. You know, the kind you can get at ten for a buck during the back to school sales? Not only can these be used year after year, but the covers will look great for performances in the park or your basic blue jean classroom theater production at open house night.

Streamlined activity sheet use.

Needing to limit photocopies and still really wanting to work in some vocabulary puzzles and small group math quizzes? Print out enough copies for your desired size of activity group (I prefer four-six students) and place each one in a plastic sheet protector. Use water based overhead markers or traditional grease pencils for students to work with. Correct together during group time and erase for the next group. Green. Cheap. Easy. Extra bonus? I dare say more than a few parents will thank you for limiting the nightly paper storm.

Center activities.

Got some printouts with answer keys for things like spelling word search puzzles, math facts, and science questions? Print out two-three sets of each and slide them back to back into sheet protectors. One side will show the blank activity page for students to work on, and the other will have the answers. Using the same strategy mentioned above of grease pencils and overhead markers, let children work together or independently on the sheets. They can correct their own work and practice skills throughout the week to get ready for quizzes and tests.

Organizing classroom communication.

Having a small three ring binder with a sheet protector for each student gives you a place to house all of those paper scrap notes from parents, notes from the nurse, etc. You never know when you are going to be called on to document a pattern or confirm your side of a miscommunication with a parent or administrator. If you end up not needing the info, just get rid of the file items at the end of the year. If you do need it however, you’ll have your proverbial ducks in a row.

Activity sheet protection for outdoor nature activities.

If you have a younger group who may find it challenging to constantly copy directions off the board, print out simple, easy to follow directions for the activity and put them in sheet protectors. Let them work individually, with a buddy or in a group to complete the activity without the page ending up in shreds. First grade educators, are you with me? With this strategy you get to have a successful day along with your students. This also works for maps when traveling or doing rainy day hikes with older PE students. It’s also one of my husband’s favorite travel tips for when we are on the road.

Instant Individual White Boards.

Love this idea! Wish I’d thought of it myself years ago. But I have to come clean. I actually found it when researching this post. Just use this link and scroll down until you see the activity titled “instant white boards”. Basically, in order for each student to have their own “white board”, you need enough smooth finish sheet protectors for each learner to have one, an equal number of sheets of 8 x 11 inch card stock, and erasable markers. To erase the kids can either use tissues, or their own recycled foot portion of an old athletic sock. I would think it might also be helpful to tape off the top open slot with horizontally placed scotch tape to keep it sealed. These are great for sentence dictation, math problems on the fly, daily language correction activities and more. To keep classroom management concerns at bay, consider collecting them after each group use, or having each student keep theirs in a 3-ring resource binder where such things are stored for quick hassle free classroom access.

Organizational support for those home and school binders.

While I never used these during my classroom years, I know of several colleagues who managed them effectively. Having a few included in each one for loose notes and routinely swapped communication documents can save you loads of follow up stress.

So that’s it, readers. My best efforts at using page protectors to streamline your classroom management and paper consumption issues. That being said, I know there are loads of talented educators out there with slamming ideas as well. Feel free to contribute any additional suggestions you might have in the comments section so we can all benefit from your expertise.

Flickr Photo Credit: TXD

As with life on the home front, going green in the classroom without busting your annual consumables budget can require a fair amount of ingenuity. Following are a few ideas to make it happen without breaking the bank.

Laminated reinforcement charts.

Teachers from pre-school through high school use these little beauties and they cost money every year. However, they don’t have to cost nearly as much if you can find a way to get by with one. Simply attach one to the inside of your classroom door or on the wall section of your choice. Laminate directly to the surface with smooth – surface clear contact paper. Use a grease pencil or erasable marker to check off the boxes by each student’s name when necessary. When the chart is full, erase and start over. Cheap and simple. Wa. Hoo. No stickers, no quarterly replacement cost, and the last time I checked, literally cheaper than dirt. High school teachers and educators of intermediate level grades with more than one class of students each year will find this an even bigger money saver. Picture one to two rows of wall laminated charts to keep you streamlined and on top of things all year long.

Egg carton scissor stand.

For an inexpensive and eco-friendly place to store your class set of student scissors, consider a pair of recycled cardboard egg cartons. Simply push each pair of children’s scissors (tips down) through an individual section of a carton. The individual sizes of safety scissors for the smaller grades will be easily supported by the depth of the cartons. I tried this when all of my metal scissor holders kept rusting during a multi-year teaching stint in Micronesia. It worked like a charm!

The tried and true construction paper scrap box.

It may be old fashioned, but the value of this classroom classic bears repeating. If you like to do puppet shows, collages, paper mosaics, file folder book jackets for student stories, or any other type of classroom project requiring small pieces of colored paper, these scrap collections come in super handy. A real teacher budget saver that helps save the environment as well.

Get back to the garden.

Consider using the natural world as a break from the traditional learning environment. Sketching buddy portraits outdoors, story time under the tree, exploring soil erosion with an outdoor science activity, etc. Learners of all ages can find inspiration in nature, and if it saves some classroom electricity in the meantime, isn’t that a good thing?

Explore eco-friendly consumable products that come with coupons.

Think dish soap for washing up after student art projects, chlorine-free tissues and paper towels, and for the older grades emergency tampons and pads for girls caught unaware for their first menstrual cycle.

Consider the incidentals.

By this I mean the things that easily integrate into your current classroom routine. For example, are you planning a field trip that could easily include another class from the same grade level? Why send the bus twice? Other ideas would be printing on both sides of the paper for student handouts, turning off the lights when not in the classroom, and switching from stickers to rubber stamp reinforcement.

This concludes what I hope will be just one of many posts on going green in the classroom. Got a super idea on the subject? I hope you’ll share.

Flickr Photo Credit: Woodley Wonder Works