School Stuff

You can do a number of simple things at school to reduce your waste:

• When brown bagging it, bring less disposable packaging (such as cling wrap) in your lunch. Invest in reusable containers to carry around your food. Better yet, don’t use “brown” paper bags. Buy a reusable lunchbox; these will retain temperature better and will last for years.
• Minimize your paper towel use when using the washroom. One piece is often sufficient. Or if your really classy, bring an actual towel from home, throw it over your shoulder and make that trip down to the public restroom.
• Bring a water bottle to school and fill it with your beverage of choice, this avoids using packaged liquids like juice boxes or pop bottles.
• Investing in a to-go mug instead of using styrofoam or paper cups for your hot beverages is a great way to reduce your waste.
• Many universities are diversifying their recycling program to reduce waste production, so always put your waste in the proper receptacles.
• When printing notes use recycled paper (available at Staples) or FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified or Green Seal Certified paper. Paper with those 2 certifications means they do not engage in deforestation of natural areas but rather grow their own trees as a commodity crop. Always use both sides of the paper for your notes and be sure to recycle the paper when disposing of them. For those of your fond of post-it notes, those are also available in recycled paper (Staples).
• Also, if your notes are in a Power Point format, print as many slides onto your piece of paper as legibly possible. If your notes are in a word document format,then try reducing the font in order to use less paper.