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Green Back to School Basics
Summer never lasts long enough!  The lazy days of summer are winding to a close and now it's time to start planning to go back to school.  Make sure that your plan includes environmentally-friendly school supplies.  You can find some really cool things that will help to save our natural resources and be healthier for your kids to use too.

What Makes It Green?
Where you buy your supplies can make a difference too.  Consider buying your items on-line instead of hopping in your car and heading to a superstore.  E-commerce warehouses use 1/16th of the energy of traditional retail stores.  Also the fuel used for shipping your purchases to you is more than 40% less than what you would use on an average car trip to the store.   

Many back to school basics are made of wood products.  Buy paper and pencils that are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which makes sure that the wood used in products comes from properly managed and protected forests.  When picking out paper products, be sure to choose ones made from 100% recycled paper.

Elmer's glue sticks are a great "green" choice because of Elmer's nationwide recycling program.  Used sticks and bottles can be taken to Walmart stores to be recycled.  Read all about the program at http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/elmersglue/38588/.

What You Can Do
Here are some other great "green" gear to look for:

About ¼ of the U.S. population was enrolled in school in 2005 - that's almost 79 million people.  That's a lot of school supplies!

My kids love Crayon Rocks, soy-based crayons shaped like rocks.  They are fun to use and easy for my 2 year old to grip too!  Check them out at www.crayonrocks.net.