Activism During Back to School
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
How to stay sustainable in your upcoming school years
What is “back to school”?
In many parts of the world, the months of August and September are known as back to school time. Students from all over the world pollute the stores for school supplies, a “new look”, or “organization technology” which almost always ends up in the landfills often by the end of the year. The fact of the matter is that capitalism has never been a greater threat to the earth than it is now.
There are many ways to act sustainably day to day. It may not fully feed the ego's desire to start anew, but reusing a product can be a beautiful way to renew something with a past life. So you may ask, how do we begin this new school year sustainably? Simply, the easiest guide is “reduce, reuse, and recycle”!
Reduce
Retailers love that we consumers have a shopping habit of buying new, single-use items such as disposable water bottles, juice boxes, snack bags, paper lunch sacks, plastic utensils, glue sticks, markers, pens, half-used notebooks, disinfecting wipes, tissues, and individually wrapped snacks and lunch kits, which all end up in the trash after one use. Decide today to reduce packaging waste. The impacts of these items are catastrophic to the environment, with most of them being incinerated or put into landfills. Many of the items are made of mixed materials, such as Tetra brick-packaging made of plastic, paper, and aluminum laminated together and practically impossible to separate for recycling. These can take hundreds of years to break down and they leach harsh chemicals and microplastics into the soil and water.
It is important for us to stop making unnecessary purchases, especially if we have already bought and only partially used certain items. As well, we can select alternatives: items made of biodegradable materials such as hemp, bamboo, wheat, and other plant materials, or we can simply buy reusables made of glass, which can be reused or recycled indefinitely.
Reuse
The biggest impact can be made by using what you already have. Re-make old things into something useful! Make disposable water bottles into planters for small classroom plants, turn old markers into watercolor paint by soaking the tips in water, use juice pouches or snack wrappers as material for upcycled pencil cases or art collages, repurpose half-used notebook pages into scrap paper for lists or math practice, clean and turn plastic utensils into craft projects such as garden markers, and transform paper lunch bags into book covers or gift wrap. Many of us just don’t realize our talent to create something new out of materials we already have!
By reusing or mending, we can extend the life of each single use item by 5x or more! We also don’t realize how much money is actually spent on these items that barely survive intact until the end of a school year. Parents plan to spend an average of $489 per child on back-to-school items this year, up from $437 in 2025 (that's an 11.7% increase!). The average household is spending nearly $900, mostly for single-use or trendy items that could easily be reused in the next school year instead of being discarded. Even modest reuse habits can cut that bill by 10–20%. How to save money and reuse school supplies this school year.
Recycle
Many people do not fully understand what recycling actually means. Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash, and turning them into new products, or making an item completely reusable, such a glass bottle. Recycling plastic waste is a bit of a myth because we assume that much of our plastic is being recycled, when it actually isn’t being properly disposed of or made into new products. According to the United Nations Development Programme, about 70% of plastic waste ends up in landfills or in nature. This is why we each should research our local recycling services and specifically ask what percentage of plastic they recycle.
Chemical leaching of plastics is dangerous to health and the environment. Every time PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles are mechanically recycled (melted down and reformed into a new bottle), the plastic degrades — the polymer chains shorten, and the material becomes more porous, brittle, and more prone to breaking down into micro- and nanoplastic particles. Dangerous fumes are emitted into the air we breathe, particularly antimony, PFAS, Phthalates, BPA, and many more, according to the Yale School of Public Health. This is why it is so important to avoid using plastic as much as you can, even if it is labelled ¨recyclable¨.
Some interesting facts about how different countries recycle: How 5 Countries Do Recycling
How do you start living more sustainably?
You start right now, where you are. Go shopping in your house for things you need rather than shopping, and if you don't have what you need, ask a parent or friend for it. Try to renew and repurpose something you already own. Write letters to big companies and ask them to sell and promote more sustainable options when you need a restock. Purchase from companies that sell products made sustainably, or from recycled materials, or make the item yourself by hand. Research your local recycling services, and educate yourself and others on how our decisions today affect everyone's tomorrow!
Resources
Sage Baron
15 years old
New Jersey
FFF USA Communications Coordinator
Interested in doing more? Reach out: 29baronh@mtps.us
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