Comments on: Green School Supplies Letter to Teacher

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:02:16 +0000

I think this is great- I know a lot of parents would never even think to stray from a list like that! I saw that a couple of people mentioned supply lists from (bad, bad) Wal-Mart- here’s a link to one mother’s experience with those lists. It seems as if Wal-Mart just made up some supply lists and made them look like they came from the schools?! Check it out here: http://kelbycarr.com/truth-about-wal-mart-back-to-school-lists/

By: NtJS

NtJS — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:51:47 +0000

great letter! We just went through buy school supplies, but the big problem we had was that certain things didn’t exist. “12 pack washable markers in basic colors” – yeah, you can get that in a 10 pack, you can get them non-washable, but you can’t get all three.

We just didn’t need them bad enough to try Wal-Mart… there’s not much that we need bad enough to get us in there.

By: Frugal Babe

Frugal Babe — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:16:27 +0000

Thanks for the tip about CleanWell. I will never let my son use chemical hand sanitizer – it’s nice to know that there are other options out there.

By: AnnMarie

AnnMarie — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:14:22 +0000

Thank you!! My DD isn’t in school yet either but I checked out the lists for K and 1st grade the other week since it was in the newspaper. I was aghast at a lot of the stuff but hadn’t even considered doing it my own way. This will give me the courage to do so. The one I really hated was a VINYL coated art smock. It’s my kids clothes underneath, I’ll send what I want to send (probably an old shirt of DHs!). No way will I send vinyl.

As to Purell and other whole classroom products–I’m hoping DD will be taught well enough at home to eschew such items. (I’m with the side that says we over use antibacterials and are making ourselves as a society sicker by getting rid of the minor bugs. You know, all us adults survived school w/o them.)

I’m also annoyed by all the brand names. I wonder what they’ll do if DD shows up with non-Crayola brand crayons and markers?

By: pierrette

pierrette — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:27:09 +0000

I love this…

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:32:47 +0000

Tiffany – I just want to tell you that I appreciate how you’re doing a lot of the ‘leg work’ when it comes to making my family healthier and more eco-friendly. Tips like these are things I never thought of (kids aren’t in school yet) but really open up my eyes. Now if I can just find a way to convince my kids that school hot lunches aren’t cool.

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:34:39 +0000

CC,

Thymus Vulgaris Oil has been used for a long time. It is hardly untested as you seem to be hinting. It is in fact a main ingredient in Listerine, a huge corporate product. It was used in days past to medicate bandages and you can even drink tea made with it. It is both safe AND effective.

By: CC

CC — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:15:26 +0000

I work for a personal care product company and I’m concerned about the CleanWell product. They have a great website, marketing and packaging but the active they use (Thymus Vulgaris Oil) is not recognized as a safe and effective ingredient. Don’t be too quick to deem it as the “green answer” if you don’t know it is safe and effective!
Alcohol based sanitizer have been around for decades and have tons of data to support their use. Small companies (like CleanWell) slip around FDA regulations unnoticed while larger manufactures (such as PURELL or GermX) have immense amount of research and development in their product to prove their safety.

By: Jaimelee

Jaimelee — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:10:36 +0000

That Wal-mart comment scares me!

Love the letter I will pack this away for later but hopefully by that time schools will be more green period.

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:34:38 +0000

That letter is perfect. Thanks for sharing.