Prayer
Dear Lord, As our students begin a new school year, I pray that you will keep them in your care. Send your Spirit to open their minds to all that is true and good. Help them to see the gifts and talents you have given them and to use them well. Help them to grow in knowledge and wisdom. Help them to be kind to others. Give their teachers patience and help them teach what is just and true. Open their young hearts to your presence and enfold them in your peace and protection. Hold them in the palm of your hand and bring them home safely at day’s end.
Amen.
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Education and Information
As a young person, I always had mixed feelings about this time of year. I hated for summer to be over (still do) but I was excited to see my school friends. I suspect it is the same for many students today,
Back to school for most today is a time to buy all new clothes, shoes, and supplies. Eco-friendly back to school goes right back to those 7 Rs we’ve talked about – Rethink. Refuse. Reduce. Reuse. Repair. Regift. Recycle. Thinking creatively about how to share and repurpose supplies helps reduce the carbon footprint of your back to school.
As one of many siblings, my mother was using eco-friendly back to school practices before it was a thing! I will say, going back to school with last year’s perfectly serviceable bookbag, notebooks, etc., was not my favorite thing at the time. But these practices save a lot of waste and, most importantly to my mother, money. And they taught me a valuable lesson that the price of an item, any item, involves more than the amount you pay at check-out. It is also necessary to calculate the cost to our environment.
Action
Here are Ten Sustainable Ways to Go Back to School.
Some communities have school supply swaps. In Cincinnati, the Recycle and Reuse Hub has a swap every July. If you don’t know of one in your area, start one. As a local church to donate space, pick a day and advertise. It may start small, but these things tend to grow every year.
Keep thinking this way throughout the school year as well. For example, projects can reuse materials from past projects.
Resources:
Keep America Beautiful
Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Petersburg