Happy Fall! Kids are back in school which means they need a whole new set of everything including clothes (they did so much growing over the summer), shoes, school supplies, backpack, and daily lunches. Even without kids in your home, the new school year feels like a the start of a new year for us all. New year costs add up! Here are some ways to get everything you need while keeping some of the costs down:

Get “new” clothes second hand instead of buying brand new

Kids grow fast and chances are those pants that fit last year are too short this year. Your sweater tucked in the closet may have found some moths or fit differently than expected. Did you know that the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world? Also, perfectly good used clothing is being thrown away – 73% of apparel is sent to the landfill when 95% of that could be reused or recycled. Here are some ways you can source used clothing when possible:

  • Organize a clothing swap with family, friends and neighbor
  • Find your local “Buy Nothing” group on Facebook – chances are your neighbors are gifting clothing in the right sizes for your kids – they might even live next door!
  • Donate your used clothes to schools for other students to use
  • Buy second-hand at consignment shops, thrift stores or even online at ThreadUp.

Find used or upcycled school supplies

Do you toss everything from your child’s backpack at the end of each school year? If so, you’re probably throwing away quite a lot of things that you’ll just have to re-buy in the fall. Instead of tossing, keep those gently used binders, extra paper and notebooks, pens and pencils and either gift them for someone else to use or reuse them yourself! At the beginning of each school year, take an inventory of what you have and what you need. Chances are you probably already have most things. If you do need to source more supplies, here are some options:

  • Ask in your local “Buy Nothing” group for new or gently used supplies others are no longer using
  • Buy used or upcycled school supplies at places like Scrap Creative Reuse (Portland and online) or ReClaim It, also in Portland
  • Thrift stores may also have gently used backpacks and supplies

Take the waste out of lunch for the whole family

Whether you’re packing lunch or buying lunch, single use plastics are part of the process in our modern world.

  • Make the switch this year to eco-friendly packaging when putting together you and your families lunches using reusable or compostable ziplocks. The average American family uses 500 ZipLoc bags per year – read more about the environmental impact. Replacing these plastic storage bags with alternative storage solutions is a pretty easy way to lessen the impact on the environment.
  • Investing in a bento-style lunch box is also a great alternative to ziplocks in general! With lots of compartments, it’s easy to fill in spaces with all your usual bagged items; plus there’s no need to wash the tiny tupperware which, for me, always end up upside-down and full of water in the washer. Worse is when it’s lost in the bottom of a bag for far to long creating an interesting science experiment…
  • For those going out to grab your favorite local lunch, try packing along your own flatwear either from home or one of these designed with storage bags for your car or bag.

Alternatively, if you can’t give up your plastic storage bags out of convenience, most plastic zipper storage bags are recyclable – just not in your curbside recycling. Apparently stores like Target, Walmart and some grocery stores accept many different types of plastic bags as long as they are clean and dry. Simply check with a store employee if you are unsure before dropping it in the recycling bin.