Aug 14, 2009 4:00 pm US/Eastern
Green Scene: Green Goes Back To School
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Environmentally-friendly back-to-school shopping is becoming more popular. As CBS reporter Hari Sreenivasan tells us, parents now have new choices when it comes to the old staples.
Clare Harwood teaches middle school English. When she does her back-to-school shopping, green products are at the top of her list.
"We need to go green," said Harwood. "There's so much going on with the environment right now. It's kind of crazy how much of an impact you can have by buying recycled paper."
Especially since 40 percent of all trash in the United States comes from paper. Schools are a major source.
Staples says sales for green school products are up. The choices get more exotic every year, like paper made from sugar cane, crayons from soy, and pencils made from recycled tires, which caught the eye of Cheyenne Morales.
"I think it's pretty good," said Morales. "I want to see how good the quality is."
Let's not forget about pens. We go through almost 5 billion of them a year. Most of the pens you see at a stationery store are disposable. But at the same price, you can also buy a pen that is completely recycled, reusable and refillable.
Price is a consideration. Green products tend to be more expensive.
"They don't mind paying a little bit more, but definitely not double the price," said Justin Faye of West Side Stationers in New York.
To save money every year, Mary Isakson uses three Rs -- reuse, reduce and recycle -- as she shops for her two teenagers.
"Taking last year's notebooks," said Isakson. "Maybe they're not fresh enough to go back to school, but they might be great for doing scratch work for doing homework."
And for teaching the next generation about smart choices for the planet.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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