It’s that time of the year again but this time be sustainable, let’s think GREEN!

If you’re a parent then you know the struggle of buying school supplies and maybe a little extra for those who may have forgotten or can’t afford it. Pencils are still a requirement on the school supplies list. More pencils mean more trees that need to be cut. According to Tree Hugger, over 82,000 trees are cut down per year to make pencils. That’s a lot of trees and resources. Pencils made from recycled materials such as newspapers, would decrease the amount of new resources used by reusing what we already have.

 

On average, there are 21 students per classroom. Students are then asked to bring one pack of 24 pencils each as their school supplies. If each student brings 24 pencils, that is 504 pencils per classroom. The average elementary school holds 26 classroom (excluding the art and music rooms) which could possibly be 13,104 pencils per school. That is a lot of trees and a lot of resources for one school. Also according to tree hugger, one tree makes 170,000 pencils. If one school in every state switched to recycled newspaper pencils, that would save almost four trees.

Other Think GREEN Tips!

Decomposition of newspapers in landfills could take 2-6 weeks vs wood could take 100-200 years to decompose in a landfill. Other ways to save space in landfills would be to never throw away your pencil shavings. Pencil shavings are excellent compost material and can be used as mulch in your plants. Instead of throwing your pencil shavings in the trash, throw them in your plants instead!

We hope you enjoyed our Back to School sustainable tip, think GREEN! To find these amazing recycled newspaper pencils, check out Amazon or The Ultimate Green Store.