This mom is helping her kids find use for last year's lunch boxes, backpacks, pencils...
My kids start school tomorrow (crazy, I know!), and like every other parent, I have been diligently getting my ducks in a row. But UNlike most parents, this year, the Lambie household is doing a "green" back-to-school. What is that, you ask? Well, we're not buying the kids any new school supplies.
My kids will not have new L.L. Bean backpacks and lunch bags with their names embroidered on them. They will not open their desk to that "new crayon smell." Nope, my kids will come to school wearing used uniforms, carrying last year's backpacks and lunch pails and using a recycled Tupperware full of half-used glue sticks and pre-sharpened pencils.
Modern society (or at least the majority of mommies at my kids' private school) would say I'm not a good mother. "How embarrassing for your kids! You can afford to buy them new school supplies, why wouldn't you?!" Yes, I can. But why should I when what they have is still in working order? Their backpacks are a little dirty, but a toss in the washer and a good scrubbing can fix that. And why should I purchase new folders when I happen to have several (with corporate logos on them) that I received from different conferences I attended this year? And a quick, Back-t0-School scavenger hunt around the house revealed that we do in fact have enough pencils and crayons to rule the world--or at least to scribble our way through second grade.
Full disclosure: I am currently on a 30-day Spend Freeze, and it just happens to fall during the first week of school. So I cannot buy anything that's not 100% necessary, which, most of their supplies are not since we already have them in spades around the house. I did buy them both new school shoes, but that was 100% necessary because they both grew like weeds this summer and I'm not into toe-binding like the Chinese.
Still, even if I wasn't on this Spend Freeze, I don't know if I could justify consuming just for the sake of consumption. I'm just too practical for that. I have raised my kids with enough love and self-esteem that (hopefully) they will be able to brush off any bullies who give them a hard time about wearing last year's backpack, using a freebie pencil with a "Five Star Flooring" logo, or not having the latest swag hanging from their lunch bag.
I think it's a great lesson in using what you have completely. Imagine if we all used everything up until it was gone or not usable anymore. Think of all the money we'd save. Think of all the packaging we'd not throw into our landfills.
Did any of you take the use-what-you-have approach with school supplies this year? If not, would you consider doing this if last year's school gear was still in good working order?
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