Getting Purelled is the growing phenomenon of sanitizing one’s germ-infested mitts with the alcohol-based, Johnson & Johnson product known as Purell.

What’s in the name, William Safire students might ask?

Pure, I imagine, denotes the opposite of tainted, which in flu terms translates into ralphing, the runs and the unpleasant sensation of having been poisoned by Satan. Elle is French for she, as in, she is cruel that H1N1 Virus, widespread in 47 states now. Elle also is a swank Fifties ad-on, like ette for dinette. It sounds real classy.

I first heard the term the other day after ordering my teenage daughter to wash her hands after school. She’s a nail biter, more susceptible than most.

“I just got purelled,” she explained, exhibiting a jellyfish-like, residue bubble in her palm, which she kept afloat because she was undoubtedly fascinated by its staying power.  She has been studying chemistry in school. And I believe pathogen is one of her SAT terms.

Sydney and her peers happily take advantage of the economy, vat-sized, plastic dispensers of the waterless germ fighter stationed in every nook and cranny of her school, from the bathrooms to the cafeteria, library and gym.

At the campus’s recent Grandparents Day buffet breakfast, I watched an elderly dude mistake the jug O’Purell for carbonated water, carelessly pumping a shot into his cup with a puzzled visage. I gently intervened to set him straight. “You don’t want to drink that, Mister.”

The sanitizer, albeit refreshing upon contact with the skin, is not desirable as a beverage, no matter how much the Dunder Mifflinaholic, Meredith Baxter, of The Office fame ingests it for its alcohol content.

Getting purelled sounds ironically similar to getting paroled. In fact, a link exists when you consider hand purifying might prevent weeks off from school, a form of prison for parents who can’t do squat during the duration of the relatively mild but ubiquitously feared illness. I know as a mom who recently emerged from the trenches with her Swine Flu-infected youngest.

“Mommy, I’m bored! Mommy, stop working, I’m bored! ” I call it Purell hell.

In an aggressive no-tolerance approach, our school armed itself with endless stockpiles of the weapon at the beginning of the year hoping it might slow what it cannot prevent. While the CDC says there are  plenty of the H1N1 vaccines to go around, many parents apparently prefer that surefire killer, Purell.

“I definitely think it has slowed down the spread since contact between these kids is so constant, maybe each child is contacting 20 others throughout the day,”  says Dr. David Abusch-Magder, the head of middle school at Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Francisco.

At least the school, which has an impressive recycling and composting program, is using refillable containers. If you must invest is this much plastic, you might as well maximize its shelf life.

In addition to schools,  I’ve spotted the dispensers just about everywhere these days, from Trader Joe’s checkout counters to business offices, exercise studios and even in the cup holder of my own car.  The truth is there is no place to avoid the risk of contamination. Many organisms continue to thrive in my car despite the Purell.

Another truth is that we are creating a population of Purelled humans immune to the small percentage of bacteria resistant to the liquid. Bacteria that don’t die simply reproduce.

Let’s just hope we can conceive of  a way to upcycle all of those plastic dispensers once we are restored.

This is the latest installment in Luanne’s column, Life in the Green Lane.

Top image: The Local

Image One:Upyernoz

WWOOF! It might sound like a dog barking but it stands for “worldwide opportunities on organic farms”.

For travellers, the WWOOF organisation lets you travel the world and experience local culture on a budget. For hosts, the deal is you provide room and board in exchange for free labour.

You might be working on an organic mushroom farm in Brazil or a Buddhist community on the East Coast of Australia. This is not a jolly day out – you are expected to work hard. Yet many travellers find it very rewarding. For some, the allure is learning about organic gardening, while others are keen to experience local culture from within a family (or other household) environment and practise language skills.

But how do you get the most out of WWOOFING?

I asked my aunt Michele, who runs a permaculture design business called Edible Landscaping and has hosted WWOOFERs for the past five years to work in her permaculture garden and orchard near Cardiff in South Wales. Here are her tips.

For WWOOFERs:

She advises asking a lot of questions before you leave: how many hours you’re expected to work, how isolated the place is, whether you are expected to do housework. In general, she advocates that WWOOFERs should behave like a house guest and contribute a bit to running the house, even if it’s just to help clear up after dinner. Her number one piece of advice is to bring the right clothes – for South Wales that means waterproof outdoor gear like rain jackets and Wellington boots.

For Hosts:

She says it’s important to feed WWOOFERs well, particularly if they are doing hard, physical labour. She advises giving WWOOFERs a structure to work in - for her it’s five days on and two days off – giving them very clear instructions for what you want done and letting them know they can have breaks. Her best investment was buying a caravan for them to sleep in, rather than giving up her study with the sofa bed.

In five years, Michele says that the vast majority of WWOOFERs have been lovely. She finds the work they do in the garden very useful, while her children have had the opportunity to meet young people from all around the world and have benefited from the cultural exchange.

Image: kcbimal

For those of us who haven’t succumbed to the Palm Pilot or Blackberry, it’s time to shop calendars and datebooks for 2009. I found some cool green options for your kitchen, home office or desk at work that contain images and information to raise eco awarness. Yes, you have a date with ecology. Take a look:

From Calendar Club, helpful reminders every month that our planet needs saving. The 101 Little Ways to Save the Planet is a pocket wall design, $21; The Living Green is a daily desk calendar, $14; the Deluxe Ecological calendar for the wall contains panels that put us in touch with the cycles of nature and the seasons, $15.

Soy-based inks on cotton paper are used to produce 12 gorgeous sheets of soft, seasonal illustrations in this delicate Letterpress Calendar (below) from See Jane Work, $35.

We’ve hooted plenty at EcoSalon about the artistry of the Night Owl Papergoods products, and it extends to the sustainably harvested wooden calendar (below), featuing the medallions and other illustrations of the company’s talented artists, $31.50 at Delight.

Downloaded onto your desktop, the wallpaper used as a monthly calendar enlightens little computer users about everything from Human Rights Day to what polar bears like to eat. You can find it at Eco Kids. (Shown at top.)

Mitch Goldberg wants to be my friend? Oh, my God.

I haven’t seen Mitch since UCSB and those magical walks along the beach experimenting with the kind of salad ingredients that prompt spiritual awakenings. It was on one of those trips that I experienced an epiphany, deciding if I could organize my dorm room closet, I could get all A’s. That Mitch Goldberg?

Facebook provides a new kind of face-to-face contact with other humans, ready or not. The popular and apparently addictive social networking site lets us reunite with old friends who look frighteningly old, write on a wall (the white man’s virtual graffiti), and play voyeur to other people’s vacation photos.

The buddy of your cousin’s who saw you on someone’s page invites you to be friends. If you confirm, you can add him or her to the list of “recently added friends” stacking up on your profile. And that’s how it’s played. Of course, some jokers, like by brother’s best childhood friend, Dan Roman, didn’t post his own photo (below), but stole someone else’s: someone with hair!

Collecting Facebook friends is all the rage, as compulsive as amassing Beanie Babies and Peek-a-Poohs, leaving you with a big pile that begs the question, now what? Are you suppose to play with all you have accumulated?

I went kicking and screaming into the domain, my 13-year-old daughter insisting it’s the best thing ever, better than watching staged home videos like Charlie Bit My Finger on You-Tube, better than shopping for Uggs. What the heck!

My daugher has 92 friends. Some of them are cute boys who are too scared to ask her to be their friend verbally. Instead, they click on the Add Friend option, the pop cult version of writing “have a bitchin’ summer” in a classmate’s yearbook. You show you’re interested without taking too much of a risk.

According to Media Metrix, Facebook is the 6th most-trafficked site in the U.S. with 1% of all internet time logged on. There are 120 million users worldwide with an increasing number of them teens. Teens are writing on walls when they should be doing homework, brushing their teeth or pleasure reading. The 30-something crowd also is a growing fan club. The site has been banned in some work sites because it hurts productivity.

I guess that’s what made Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, (above) the youngest billionaire around at age 24, with a net worth of $1.5 billion. He cooked up the idea as a sophomore at Harvard in 2004, then took it off campus and extended usage to anyone 13 and over. His headquarters are in Palo Alto, Ca. and according to Fast Company, he still walks or rides his bike to work in student garb and rents an apartment with a mattress on the floor. Lucky computer geek genius boy. I wish he’d hire me to design his apartment. I wonder how many friends are on his site?

I now have 42 friends and growing. I’ve become a user, one of those networkers who log on daily, answering the Facebook question, What are you doing right now? and checking to see how many new friends I have made. It will be long time before I catch up with my daughter, but then again, only about 15 kids signed my high school yearbook and I’m only in contact with one of them, my best childhood friend Wendy Klein, who hasn’t added me yet. She’s really behind in the whole computer scene.

If you want to be my Facebook friend, you should really be my friend. I think it’s odd for people who hardly know me to check out my family Halloween photos and shots of my Italy vacation. Don’t you? But then, again, maybe it all comes down to what got this country in the crazy pickle it is now in: the numbers. The more, the merrier? I ‘m not so sure.

Alan Greenspan is calling it “a credit tsunami” that policymakers did not expect. The smart ones who converted to a green lifestyle long ago are well-equipped for riding that ominous wave. Many of us are still figuring out how to sink or swim.

Like the wronged woman in an old movie, the spastic stock market has slapped us across the face, leaving an ugly mark. My sister, a single mom, says her portfolio has shrunk by some 40%. Poof. Gone. Next comes a rise in lay-offs and unemployment, threats to retirement funds, and increased job insecurity. Greenspan tells us home prices must stabilize for the crisis to end. Until then, we are struggling to adjust.

“Green” may be in short supply, but going green makes good cents. Here are 10 tips to stay sustainable:

File away your credit cards for emergency use only

Let’s face it, spending is addictive, and having the plastic conveniently on-hand has made it too easy for all of us to overspend. Are you really living within your means? If we had to rely on cash, we would be forced to do what our parents and grandparents did in the days without ATM’s. Budget! Yes, it’s time for Plan B. Buy quality products that will last, pay your bills, eat out less. Meantime, consolidate to one major card, close high interest accounts, shred unnecessary department store cards, store just one card for emergencies. You’ll feel greener…and lighter.

Be empowered with reduced energy and power

We are draining our resources, both environmental and financial, when we crank out the air and heat, run our washers and dryers around the clock, insist upon front lawns and sprinklers, drive cars to work instead of taking mass transit and burn the lights in our rooms. Instead, wear a favorite sweater or use eco-friendly area heaters or fans. Did you know that weather-stripping can cut heat bills in half? Air-dry your towels and reuse them; wash clothes only if they smell or are dirty and avoid hot water cycles; Replace grass with organic veggie gardens or zero-scape plants and wild grasses; Walk, bike, or take the train, and carpool your kids to school and parties. It’s all simple green sense.

Try Bucking Big Bill Stress

A positive attitude is critical for greening your life but that’s pretty tricky when you’re shouldering big debt, including hefty home loans. Talk to your lender or whoever has purchased your loan and see if you can refinance or reduce the balance. They may be willing to negotiate a reduced amount or interest rate. Or, try to pay off a loan with a bad rate by borrowing what’s owed from a different source at a much better rate. In addition to banks, corporations like department stores and even credit card agencies are often willing to offer a settlement for the debt you owe, especially if it means they can close your file. You can read about the pros and cons of paying off loans in a report by AARP.

Support Female Workers Any Way You Can

According to a recent report by the Joint Economic Committee of the Senate, women are the most vulnerable to job loss during this kind of economic downturn. This is threatening to households as basic living expenses continue to rise. Many feel compelled to eliminate luxuries which can include the female house cleaner, dog walker, yoga teacher, tutor, childcare provider, or even a home nurse. Reduce services if you must but try not to cut them out all together. Spreading the wealth, especially during hard times, is an eco-friendly concept. Rent The Grapes of Wrath and see for yourself.

Stop Patronizing Businesses That Gouge

Airlines do it with fares, extra luggage and food; Restaurants do it with exorbitant wine prices which accompany $40 entrees; and don’t get me started on gas. Back in 2005, as Hurricane Rita approached, Texas businesses were issued stern warnings not to gouge consumers during a disaster. We must now send out our own warnings, the way they did in Montgomery by boycotting the buses. Those bus companies felt the impact of Rosa Parks and started to listen. Well, the winds are blowing, and until prices are in line with our green lifestyles, stay off the planes. Fill your car rarely; shop for organic food at farmers’ markets or local green groceries or grow your own; eat out less; frequent thrift shops, consignment shops and yard sales; purchase from green retailers. I love Trader Joe’s cause I can really save there. (We just need to encourage the chain to reduce its over- packaging of food.)

Rebound from a Job Loss By Finding a Niche

eHow suggests that even when cash is scarce, there is money to be made by using skills that people need. Among them, grow your own food to sell at stores, farmers markets or even to neighbors (mine love our artichokes!). Learn how to be a handyman or handywoman by repairing leaky roofs, mending fences, hanging artwork, painting a room. Offer childcare services in your home, rent out a room, teach knitting to kids. Check with area schools to see if they are hiring specialists for enrichment programs (i.e. writing, art instruction, poetry, math, music or video production). You can even start a sustainable green business like Spencer Brown did with Earth Friendly Moving, which offers reusable green cartons for home and office moves.

It is Better to Give Than to Receive During the Holidays

Food bank donations are needed now more than ever with food prices soaring. The San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center says it is seeing a much higher demand for food from the families that it serves, and that parental stress is related to this demand. Lean more about how to donate food at Feed America.

With so much hunger and poverty, don’t strap yourself further by running out and buying meaningless toys your kids don’t need. Give gifts of the heart to both loved ones and the community. Print out an amazing photo you took and make a frame; bake organic Christmas cookies and package them in a reusable container; buy one quality gift instead of numerous cheap ones. (By the way, for cookies, you will find fun ideas at Christmas Cookies on the web.) Decorate with what you already own, or trade with another family. And give what you can of your time and charity to the growing needy on our streets and in shelters.

Avoid Planning Lavish Events

Will your toddler remember the birthday party more if you spend $600 on entertainment and decor? Does the Bat Mitzvah with the high price D.J. and $20,000 in food stations help honor the cultural milestone more than a lovely lunch at the temple? From lavish fundraisers to weddings that break the bank, doing it up big is more ego than eco. Haven’t we learned that less is more? Don’t we all feel better when warmth and good taste supercede extravagance and waste? Keep things simple and work within your means. Don’t strive to impress others at the risk of yet another financial setback. The web is well stocked with sites to guide you on planning green events. For fundraisers, check out Philanthropy.com and for other eco gatherings, visit Special Events. And, remember that with kids a special birthday camp-out in the backyard in a tent costs very little but goes a long way as an investment in the memory bank.

Close Non-Commercial Offices

When do you realize it’s time to give the landlord notice? When the monthly rent is too high? When you have a suitable space at home to work? When you have a suitable space at a colleague’s home to work? Don’t be afraid to call it quits. Donate and recycle what you cannot take with you from your office or storage unit and absorb the rest.  It’s painful, I know. I’m closing my own beautiful space away from home, but we all have priorities during these shaky times. I pray some day someone will give me a plush space with a computer for writing clever copy. Until then, the basement office will have to suffice. Many of us are in fields that allow us to work from home (writing, law, accounting, massage, consulting). Just one tip, keep the pantry shelves spare. It’s too easy to run upstairs for a cookie in between stories. For tips on supplies for forging a green office in your extra room, check out My Green Office.

Make Love, Not War

Whatever our party affiliations, we need to ask what $12 billion a month could buy in terms of food, shelter, disease research, medical treatment, alternative fuels and security around the world. Instead, that’s how much we are spending on the war in Iraq, according to the estimates of the Washington Post which figures that all told, the tab will reach $3 trillion. I believe every American should watch the documentary Iraq for Sale exposing corporations like Blackwater, CACI, Titan and Halliburton. They’re reaping a profit while our economy, planet, and good name are seriously wounded in battle. Global issues can seem daunting; so look for simple ways to increase love in your own life. Kiss and hug your partner, your spouse, your children, your mother. Our first call to arms: All You Need is Love. Giving love is good for the planet and good for you.

All green beings know that in the garden that is Earth, we reap what we sow. Let’s work together to grow, green.

Image: shoothead

Legend has it there was a time when you could move through the fashion boutiques, Murano shops and cafes of San Marcos Square without battling monstrous crowds. Friends of mine even speak of walking right into the Duomo, right on in. No sweating a one-hour line.

But these days, the main island of the famous Grand Canal is as packed as Disneyland in July, heaving with tour groups fresh off cruise ships and trains, eager to look, but not to buy.

While the spastic market hasn’t exactly curbed travel to Venice, it has greatly affected spending. Cutting back is how we mend our broken economy and certainly in line with efforts to create a more sustainable green planet. But it spells disaster to vendors entirely dependent upon the tourist trade. And boy, are they steamed.

In one charming negozio I visited off the square, a weathered bleach-blonde Italian woman was holding her head in agony and sighing as visitors examined her delicate blown glass perfume bottles and animals.

“Is it all right to touch these?” I inquired, meekly, pawing an adorable mini glass fish bowl with itty-bitty glass goldfish.

“Please do, madam,” she replied. “Please, go ahead and break something. It’s the only way I’ll make some money today.”

I burst out laughing at her remark but the bizarre attitude I encountered in a fashion boutique called Pignaton wasn’t so funny. A brunette saleswoman in her late 20s shadowed me at a furious pace, refolding Missoni sweaters and scarves I had touched, muttering naughty Italian words under her breath, words I hadn’t learned in my San Francisco summer class.

“Look, I have to touch when I shop,” I explained to my shadow,  thinking an Italian, of all people, would get that shopping is a highly tactile experience.

After all, I had done plenty of heavy petting in the Furla stores of Rome and Florence before parting with euros for purple leather wallets, zipper-front gloves, patent clutch bags and ruffled scarves. In fact, I thought my mother and I had made quite a dent in Italy’s suffering economy with our hands-on approach to shopping.

“Sure, that’s what you Americans always say, but in Italy we don’t have to touch, we don’t have to touch, we aren’t like that,” she barked at me, red-faced.

Speaking of touched! I feared if I didn’t leave the shop immediately the hostile merchant might attack me with a Versace borsa. Guess she sized me up as one of those tourists who unfold but don’t buy. (Boy was she wrong. I even refold if you give me a minuto.)

Yet I have to sympathize with these merchants. They’re bombarded daily with internationals asking what items cost and seeking directions (the square is a virtual maze of alleys and crannies).

A darling woman named Liliana I met at a Murano glass factory told me she moved to Lido Island to escape the hordes and their incessant questions. Before that she had escaped Romania by coming to Venice to make money and be with all of the nice people.

While the euro to dollar exchange rate has improved to 1.35 (it was 1.60 last spring), the falling dollar has really hurt the Italian economy (see my earlier post on the Italian recession). The most visible bruises are in Venice where everything depends upon filling those gondolas tethered in the lagoon.

Before my recent  trip, I swore I would limit purchases to souvenirs for my kids because Italian prices are so darn high.  But I couldn’t resist the stunning accessories calling to me from store windows. When I returned home I found the items at Furla cost more here than in Italy and wished I had bought more. But clearly, I was one of the few toting shopping bags around the square.

A news report in PINR  warned the dramatic drop in consumer spending in Italy would add insult to the injury in other key fields where the country has lagged behind. These include scientific research, high-tech innovation and labor productivity.

According to the report, another disappointment is “the lack of strategy to reduce the country’s alarming energy dependence.”

All of it adds up to a crisis that could have retailers hanging permanent chiuso signs on their doors. While heavy hitters Gucci, Pucci and Armani might be able to withstand the drought (despite their outrageous, museum-like prices on goods), small vendors like Pignaton seem to be dying of thirst with no bottle of Brunello in sight.

Once upon a time, “doing your bit for the environment” was an impassioned hobby at best. Now, it’s a job – within the biggest boom industry of the next decade. The American Solar Energy Society estimates that 1 in 4 Americans will be working in green-collar jobs by 2030. (Future President, take note).

So, what are going to be the sustainable occupations of the new economy? Here are 10 predictions for green-collar jobs that will grow and grow:

Bicycle / Scooter Technicians. Bicycles are elegant and efficient ways to get around, and enormously reliable. They’re also a piece of cake to maintain in good working order. But bicycles are going to change. Electric bikes (such as Urban Mover’s range) are going to bridge the gap between gas-powered and human-powered, and fixing them is going to require a special blend of mechanic and electrician. Like motor mechanics, they’ll charge a not inconsiderable amount to get you back on the road – but with the money you’re saving by not using gas, you’ll be able to afford it!

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Public/Private Alternative Energy Engineers. There are millions of dollars around the world awaiting to be saved by a switch to sustainable energy sources – and the technology to allow such a changeover is just round the corner (such as super-efficient solar energy). So there will be a lot of solar panels, wind turbines and ground-source heating to install – funded by local municipalities eager to invest in long-term energy savings, or private companies eager to secure our cash. It’ll be a massive undertaking – and a booming job market.

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Emissions Managers. As companies shift to newer, greener ways of working, there will be a period of transition. It’s the job of the regional and federal government to encourage companies through this transition, either from in front (the carrot) or from behind with the stick – the threat of fines or prosecution. (Carrots work better, it’s official). Either way, companies will be held responsible for the (diminishing) level of their environmental impact – and they’ll need a special blend of scientist and public relations spokesperson to make sure they’re toeing the line.

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Urban Replanners. To make the most of new green innovations, most of our cities need redesigning. Those acres of concrete soaking up heat, creating “heat islands” that force people to turn up the A/C. Those buildings in the way of naturally cooling, turbine-powering air-currents. Those profoundly unpedestrian areas that you can’t navigate without being inside a car. They can all go. And we also think that truly green city architecture should raise a sweat.

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Urban Gardeners. The cities of the future will grow. It’s not science fiction – just the cheapest, most natural way of getting our cities to regulate themselves, and creating places our spirits can thrive in as well as our bodies. Grass-coated roofs bring building temperatures down. Trees scrub the air. People grow their own vertical gardens. To kick things off, we’ll need trained urban gardeners promoting the right way to do things. And wouldn’t it be great if they used to do the same thing in their spare time?

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Recycling Specialists. As the public and private sectors of the recycling industry grow, it’s going to become more and more critical to be on the cutting edge of recycling techniques, whether to make the most of taxpayers’ money or keep profits on the up. Companies and job positions tailored to the recovery of specific materials (like Recovco, focussing on recovered aluminium) are going to crop up everywhere. Plastic specialists are going to have a field day.

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Organic Farming Specialists. Their heads filled with a mixture of cutting-edge organic agricultural innovation and a thousand years of farming techniques that worked just fine before synthetic agrochemicals came along, students of organic farming are going to be heavily in demand. They’ll understand the dangers of taking shortcuts with the health of the land, and they’ll know how to keep production and food quality sky-high.

Environment Refuse Processors. Restoring the sustainable potential of our hard-pressed planet is going to involve the largest clean-up job in history. We’re going to have to scour the sea bed for nurdles and skim the waves for plastic bottles. Land fills (packed full of recyclable materials) will be reprocessed and rendered less toxic. Our mountains of trash aren’t just hazardous, they’re an energy goldmine – and these people will be our miners.

High School Ecologists. Alongside Math, Chemistry and Biology, it’d be nice if Ecology had a place on the school curriculum within our lifetimes. It’d be a subject grounded in a pragmatic, useful concern with our place in the natural world, teaching the Why behind all branches of green-collar work. And all taught without even a hint of a kaftan or a floral print shirt.

And lastly, how are members of the current workforce (blue-collar, white-collar and so on) going to adapt to the new job opportunities available to them? By seeing an Environmental Career Consultant, of course!

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We all know we need to exercise. And none of us seem to have the time. Even I, who mostly work at home, still find it hard to fit regular exercise into my routine. But human bodies were clearly not made to be sedentary, so here’s how you can sneak some extra action into your life.

Take the stairs. Skip the elevator and climb a flight or two. Sprint the stairs two at a time if you want to make it aerobic!

Park further away. Cruising into the mall or the grocery store can have the added bonus of a little extra walking.

Do office exercises. If you’ve got a private office or access to a conference room, take a few heart-pumping breaks. Whip out a minute’s worth of jumping jacks, run in place (with your knees high!) or do some squats and lunges. Anything to keep your office-bound body from getting too creaky.

Deliver messages in person. Email is easy, but why not deliver a message face to face ““ and take a quick stroll around the office while you’re at it?

Hide the remote control. It might seem like the ultimate inconvenience, but having to get up to change the channels or adjust the volume gives your body those little spurts of extra movement that you need.

It’s true, nothing can ever replace real aerobic exercise; remember, our not-too-distant ancestors walked, rode horses, and worked the land. Most of us in urban settings won’t have the chance to do any of that, but any extra movement you can add to your life helps. So do it!

Image: fazen
 
 

As a young girl my favorite time of year was the week before school started every September. Not because I went shopping for new clothes – a plaid skirt and white blouse were the extent of my “uniform”. I equated back-to-school with school supplies. A new binder with a plastic zip-lock envelope packed full of brand new pens and pencils – thrilling!

Those were the days…when new meant something good and fresh and exciting, but the world was eco-oblivious. Fast forward a few decades and it’s easier than 1-2-3 to green that school supplies list.

Here are some tips to get you and your little greenies started:

Encourage your kids to adopt an older sibling’s backpack from last year. Rips can be mended and ink stains can be covered with cool patches. If reuse isn’t an option, go green with this Hemp Cinch Backpack from EcoBodyWear. Available in natural, black and brown for $53. For older kids who carry laptops, there’s this Billboard Messenger Bag for $99.95 at YourGuidetoGreen or see A Guide to Eco Laptop Bags for other ideas.

Eating in the school cafeteria has become less fattening, but there’s nothing healthier and greener than bringing a bag from home. And lunch is an area where the eco-possibilities are endless. Go vintage with an old metal lunchbox or try Lunchopolis, a lead free insulated bag with a matching drink bottle and 4 reusable containers. On sale at YourGuidetoGreen in blue or green for $29.99. Several more options available here.

I admit, there’s nothing quite like the smell and feel of a new book, but buying used saves money and trees. AbeBooks is the one-stop textbook shop, and try half.com for the year’s reading list. Your local library is also an eco choice.

To organize papers and keep notes every student needs a 3-ring binder. New Leaf makes this Think Recycled 1″ Binder ($6.99) in an eco-cool craft color, as well as a Think 3 Subject Sprial Notebook ($6.99). Both are available at NewLeafProducts. Get 100% recycled College Rule paper here too – 100 sheets at $3.99.

Back to school also means cutting and measuring. These KleenEarth® Stainless 7″ Shears have 70% recycled handles and a ten-year warranty. Find them at TheGreenOffice for $5.49. If you can’t find an extra 12″ ruler in one of your “junk drawers”, Office Depot sells this one made of 30% postconsumer content for $1.09.

Writing and drawing can be earth-friendly and non-toxic too. Pay close attention to the chemical content of ink markers and always choose water-based over anything else. Pilot offers a variety of eco-ink pens with up to 89% recycled content. Available at PilotBeGreen from $1.65 – $2.45 each. The Pentel Sign Pen® is certified nontoxic and available in black, red and blue – $14.49 per dozen at TheGreenOffice. What student doesn’t love Mr. Sketch® scented markers? Non-toxic and water-based, they’re safe and smell good too. A 12-Color set is $7.95 at eNasco.

Perfect for practicing handwriting, these TreeSmart pencils are made from recycled newspapers without using toxic chemicals or adhesives. The newsprint creates interesting and unique designs and they sharpen easily with a regular pencil sharpener. 12 pencils for $4.10 at PencilThings. A colored pencil set is also available for the same price.

Look no further than these fun non-stapling staplers for your go green student. They cut through paper creating a “chad-like” closure that binds up to 4 pages. Find them at Amazon – $16.95 for a pack of three (blue, red, green).

If these options are too overwhelming and one-stop-shop is more your thing, get a pre-packed Student Kit of eco-friendly, non-toxic items made specific to grade in school. Available at TheGreenOffice from $16.99 to $29.99 – Kindergarten through 8th grades.

Lastly, remember that when it comes to anything eco, less is more. Most teachers hand out a shopping list on the first day, so don’t shop before you have it in your hot hands, and stick to it to avoid any unnecessary and wasteful purchases.

Image: FXR

It’s out there, somewhere. And I will find it.

It’s a desk that fits me perfectly, that encourages me to sit down to get on with some work. It’s beautiful, practical and somehow has a positive environmental impact. Beyond those criteria, I’m easy – urban or rustic, antique or modern, I’ll try anything.

My first bet is usually second-hand furniture, because it’s recycling – not just of materials but of stories, every polished scratch becoming a trigger for my imagination. But then there’s the appeal of the shiny and new (hey, I’m a guy, what can I say). I love Hudson Furniture’s huge tables – but they’re not exactly practical for a study or library, both of which my dream house contains.

How about the Kidney Shaped Desk from John Wiggers? Sustainable Hawthorn polished like glass and topped with nonslip black leather, in a long chair-hugging curve. You can tell Mr. Wiggers is itching to use the word "ergonomic". But no…that super-slick wood’s not quite me.

Now, my Inner Geek backflips when I see the SOLo Lounge Table. Ultra-modern and on wheels, it’s inset with solar panels that can soak up enough energy to recharge your laptop 3 times every day. Wheel it around, take it on holiday (nothing about how much it weighs?) – it’s an impressive display of practical alternative energy, and anything that weans us off the grid gets my thumbs-up. But it looks…..a bit too modern for me. Call me old-school. Oh, and it’s $14,000.

I’ll just have to keep looking. Unless you have any suggestions?