First Day of School!

Yesterday - August 27th - was the first day of school here.
Yucky, windy, weather... whine whine. I am so NOT ready for fall.

Anyway, school went well for both kids and Molly's new backpack (yes I broke down) arrived on Monday. Molly loves it.

BUT Wyatt announced after school yesterday that he needs a new one! Holy Mackeral!!!

He says he's got two textbooks that won't fit with his notebooks... So now I'm trying to figure out if I can talk him into taking Molly's new one which seems bigger (hey, it's blue). What will be more difficult will be talking her into using his one-year-old one... which is brown. Much of her wardrobe is also brown... so it will match, but even though she's not a girly girl, and despises pink & purple, I think it'll be an uphill battle! (confession, it's monogrammed, shouldn't have wasted the money)

Time to head back to the thrift stores and see if anyone has a decent LARGE backpack. OR maybe I'll call Land's End... "Uh, yea, your backpacks are guaranteed right? Are they guaranteed to be large enough capacity for a middle schooler?"

Doesn't seem quite honest - but it was marketed as the larger bag.

Stay tuned.

What NOT to buy for back to school.

I know we will probably all have to purchase some items for our kids, for me it's the new backpack and "two red correcting pens".

But I was just at the Website for Center for a New American Dream and they had a list of school supplies to AVOID...
Like, did you know some backpacks have PVC - poly vinyl chloride? Think toxic new cheap shower curtain smell... Those aspects of back to school hadn't even occured to me. Or how about correction fluid? Can you imagine inviting toxics into your classroom??? So check it out for yourself!

http://www.newdream.org/marketplace/bts.php


BTW

I've heard from people who 'like the blog' but no one's posted any comments. I guess you have to join blogspot to be able to comment, so be my friend instead and join Facebook, then the used is cool Facebook group.

We won't be able to spread the idea if we just keep it here in the TC's.

Have a great day - g

What About Clothes??

Okay, if you've made it here today, there's a good chance you saw the newspaper article. (Front page of the Tri-City Herald http://www.tri-cityherald.com/kennewick_pasco_richland/story/272469.html)

And yes, it's about school supplies - but everything else too. So, if you read on, you'll see that Molly and I also went to Value Village. We didn't find much, but I'll go again later in the season when it cools down.

I was really excited that the article listed places to donate used school supplies as well. As I said, I'm inundated, particularly with pencil boxes...

I did examine Molly's backpack and agreed that after four years (k-3) I guess she's ready for a new one. I'm going to wash it and take it to Salvation Army with the pencil boxes. It's still functional, just a little small for her.

So, I went back to Land's End - because if I have to spend $25+ on a backpack I want it to last... That is another part of conserving resources. Making sure you buy things that will last. My son's primary backpack is in mint condition, but waaay to small for middle school books.

BTW, lest you think Miss Molly is the only one getting used stuff - that's true so-far. But Wyatt's concert attire for school orchestra came from Value Village - black pants, white shirt, black dress shoes. Ta Daa! Once it cools down (he's one of those kids who'll wear shorts 'til November) we'll peruse the used stores for his winter pants.

Have a great day.

P.S. Kudos To Michelle P.

Michelle had a b-day party for Maya today, and there was a scavenger hunt.

Guess what the kid searched for?

SCHOOL SUPPLIES! Cool Idea Michelle!

Two Used Pairs of Pants...

Friday night I saw some friends at a free summer concert, and BG said she'd just gotten back from a round of thrift-store shopping with her third-grader when she opened my Used is Cool Challenge email!! Great minds think alike.

Molly and I spent some time on Sunday, after breakfast and Costco, at Value Village. She tried on about seven pairs of pants, and two blouses.

We bought two pairs of pants. There was a pair I loved, but she didn't, and they weren't my size. Darn!

I'm still evading the backpack discussion... She's had her current Land's End pack since kindergarten... and it is getting grubby. Bet I'll cave on that one.

I went through Wyatt's collection of used packs. Taking one to Goodwill.

What is the protocol there? If something is mendable, can you Goodwill it? Should you mend it first? Hmmm.

A photographer is coming tomorrow to take a photo of my kids and me for an article about Used is Cool... Hope it's not too hot. I was hoping Molly could model one of her 'new' pairs of pants!

We'll see.

Ready, Set, Shop... NOT

OMGoodness

Molly appears at my side (I'm trying to build my Facebook Used is Cool Group).

It's 8:47 on a Sunday, "I'm dressed," she announces...

"That's nice, I'm not."

"I'm ready to go BUY the phones." (we NEED a new cordless, ours is crapping out...)

"Honey, Costco (we have a coupon), doesn't open 'til 10 on Sundays."

"Okay, well let's go have breakfast."

That I can do... I've managed to stave off the backpack conversation so far today... but I know it's coming. Wish me luck!

Green Parenting Challenge

I'm starting a new campaign called:

Used is Cool for Back to School!

I refuse to blindly buy the items on my child's teacher's supply list. This has gone on for too long and we must STOP the madness!!!

Let's face it, many of us are trying to break our consumer habits. Whether we're doing it to save green $$ or be green shopping habits are hard to break.
And we're teaching our kids the same bad habits. Buying them things they don't really need... Maybe even charging them!

It's time to stand up to the peer pressure, and the advertising. It's time to tell our kids:

Used is Cool for Back to School!

My children and I will spend a few hours going through their rooms and their past four or six pencil boxes (or zippered pouches).

We will locate perfectly fine scissors, rulers, glue sticks, pink pals, and calculators... And put them in one of the least worn pencil boxes or zippered pouches.

We will re-sharpen the pencils with intact erasers and we WILL use the fancy decorative pencils they got from the Easter Bunny, Cinco de Mayo Pinata, and yes, as reading prizes from last year!!

We will rip out the 17-used pages from those 80 sheet spiral notebooks and recycle them. Then we will proudly put the notebook, with its remaining paper, into the backpack!!
(Put a blank mailing label over their messy fourth-grade writing and let your child re-label it with their fifth grade hand.)

We will only buy what we ACTUALLY need.

Obviously kids grow over the summer and will want and need some new clothes (even this is debatable, and it's worth a look-see at your local used clothing store).
They may actually need a new backpack or lunch pail if they were rough on the last one... But let's all try to limit ourselves to buying only what they really need.


Are you with me? Spread the word...

Used is Cool for Back to School!