Tips on Recycling Your Child's School Supplies

Many thrifty parents hate to see their child's old school supplies be thrown away. With so many children from economically challenged families in need of affordable school supplies for their children, parents may feel the need to recycle their child's school supplies to cut down on waste in our throw-away society.

The first and most obvious way to recycle your children's school supplies is to use them yourself. Many parents enjoy arts and crafts, and the artists I know will accept pens, paper, pencils, notebooks, rulers, colored pencils, and other school supplies, for use in their own studio, no matter how "used". Artsy parents have surely already thought of this, but if you know someone who is always drawing or writing, then you might consider giving them your child's used school supplies.

Your child's school may also accept used school supplies for use in classrooms, as extra pencils, erasers, protractors, and other recycled school supplies are always welcome, especially in elementary classes, where students have a tendency to lose supplies quickly. At my elementary school, we had a cabinet full of these recycled school supplies, to be used as needed. Parent's should talk to their child's school to find out if they accept recycled school supplies.

Many local churches give away backpacks and school supplies. Parents might want to check with their church to find out if they give away school supplies, and what they need. These organizations usually prefer to give the students new, unopened supplies, however, so check with the church before bringing a big box of recycled school supplies to them. Your own place of employment might also let you bring in your child's school supplies for use in the office, but make sure you leave all the Hannah Montana and GI Joe stuff at home!

Lastly, college students are often in more need of school supplies than pre-college students. As a current student who receives financial aid, I can tell you that there are semesters where I can't even afford a notebook, and would gladly take one that had a few pages missing. Again, art students will more than likely take anything you have that they can use for their projects. So try asking around the college, too, or put up a notice on the college announcement board.

Recycling your child's school supplies is easier than you think. Everyone likes a freebie, whether they admit it or not, so the best thing to do is just ask!