Blog Post

4 Ways to Repurpose & Recycle Old School Supplies

crayons Both teachers and students may find themselves with leftover school supplies and materials throughout the school year. This prompts the question: what can be done with these unwanted items? Rather than simply disposing of them, consider repurposing them! Here are some ideas for utilizing old school materials in new ways.

1. Arts & Crafts

Are you or is someone in your family crafty? Old school supplies are great for at-home art projects and other DIY activities. Make personalized gifts or unique house décor by:

- Melting crayons by ironing them on wax and craft paper to make fun-shaped suncatchers—cut out your desired shape and hang them in the window.
- Gluing used colored pencils on a canvas or thick paper to shape a unique mural.
- Making DIY flower pens--wrap colored florist tape around old markers and pens and glue artificial flowers on top.
- Folding sticky notes into interesting origami shapes, mosaics and other 3D shapes.
- Turning old erasers into DIY eraser stamps.
- Help your kids set up their own school or play business in your house, with folders, books, notebooks and more.

2. Recycle Old School Supplies

If some supplies are no longer usable, recycle them when possible. Recycling saves energy, resources and space at the landfills. (Consider scheduling a classroom presentation on recycling!)

Check with your local recycling service for a list of acceptable items. Recyclable school materials typically includes:

- Notebook paper—for spiral-bound notebooks, throw away the metal spiral and recycle the paper
- Paper folders or envelopes
- Drawing or construction paper
- Boxes from crayons or colored pencils
- Index cards or sticky notes
- Old homework papers

Other supplies like scissors and plastic tools--i.e. rulers and calculators--typically aren’t recyclable, especially in Rumpke’s recycling program.

For Rumpke customers, here’s our acceptable item list.

Be Careful with Batteries

You should never throw batteries in your trash or recycling. Instead, you should take used batteries from calculators to special battery drop-off locations or retailers near you. Batteries can ignite in the trash and recycling and cause fires!

3. Donate Gently Used School Supplies

If you aren’t crafty and the supplies are still in good condition, donate them to organizations or schools directly instead. A few charitable options include:

- Donating used books to a local bookstore or school library.
- Looking for organizations that accept school supplies and distribute them to nearby schools.
- Giving gently used folders, binders and notebooks directly to teachers as a resource for students in their classrooms.
- Checking with your school for programs or campaigns where they collect gently used items for in-need students in the community.

Bonus: Low-Waste Lunch Tips for the School Year

Students with disposable lunches throw away a lot of trash in just nine months. Using more sustainable pre-packed lunches helps reduce the waste and cost of plastic bags and utensils. Consider these low-waste lunch ideas:

- Use glass or plastic food containers or compartment container lunch boxes to pack lunches.
- Pack a reusable drink bottle for drinks.
- Include washable utensils and cloth napkins.
- Encourage your student(s) to bring home leftovers if possible.

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