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A big benefit in home educating is the ability for a family to really go green.  That is good news for homeschooling parents who also happen to be eco-conscious or want to be.

Even if you do not consider yourself part of the eco movement, consider that many green practices are just good biblical stewardship.  Here are just a few of the ways that homeschooling your child can reduce your environmental impact on our planet.

• Home Cooked Food – School lunches are often heavily processed and packaged and very wasteful. Lunches at home can be significantly healthier with less processing and chemical additives. Using whole foods and cooking from scratch will mean less waste too. Growing your own organic foods, perhaps as part of natural science lessons, will also help conserve resources and improve soil conditions.

• No Transportation Required -   Children who attend public schools often ride the bus or get picked up and dropped off by parents. Idling in pickup lanes is a common occurrence, especially during cold and/or hot weather. All of this transportation means more greenhouse gas emissions. Schooling at home will usually mean less driving and therefore less pollution. No time constraints might also mean that homeschooling families can rely more heavily on public transportation.

• Computers Reduce Paper Usage -  In traditional schools kids often work with textbooks, workbooks, and paper printables. It is not uncommon for them to bring home a backpack full of paper at the end of every week with homework, artwork, reports, newsletters, and school advertisements. The use of computers to do lessons, watch video tutorials, do drills, create art digitally, or learn new skills eliminates the need for so much paper. It reduces the need for consumable supplies in general.

• Homeschoolers Consume Less – When educating at home there is usually no need for new backpacks every year, lunchboxes, and new clothing. School supply lists grow shorter every year and items don’t get lost while at school and need to be replaced as much. Children are also likely to feel less peer pressure and the need to ask for the latest name brands, popular fashions, and cool gadgets.

• Green School Supplies -  Most of the supplies you find within schools are not very eco friendly. Brand new paper, petroleum based crayons, and clay with PVC all have a negative impact on our planet. Homeschooling parents have more freedom to choose their own earth friendly supplies like soy crayons, beeswax modeling materials, post consumer recycled paper, and graphite pencils.

• Recycling -   Homeschoolers have a great opportunity to recycle by using scrap paper, printing on both sides of the paper, and repurposing items to meet new needs. Most public schools can’t be bothered to manage recycling programs. It could even be part of their studies to learn how to recycle as much as they can.

• Homeschoolers Can Buy Second Hand –   Many homeschooling parents like to buy homeschooling supplies and curriculum second hand. There are many swap sites and forums that emerged to meet this growing demand. Parents buy, trade, or sell books, curriculum sets, board games, computer games, electronic learning tools, and much more. This helps to reduce the impact on limited planetary resources when we avoid buying new.