At the dawn of a new school year, opportunity awaits students and educators alike. The opportunity to make classrooms more ecofriendly is one student and their teachers can embrace together.

Eco-friendly classrooms can help teachers instill lessons about the environment and the need to protect the planet. Transforming classrooms into places that promote sustainability and other environmental lessons can be very simple.

Bring plants into the classroom. Plants in the classroom can prove invaluable during science lessons and instill a sense of responsibility in students tasked with watering and tending to the plants during the school year. In the late 1980s, a joint study from NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors examined 19 common houseplants in an effort to determine their potential impact on improving indoor air quality. Each of the 19 plants studied were found to have properties that proved useful in improving indoor air quality, and that some were especially effective at treating air that contained formaldehyde, benzene and trichloroethylene.

Recycle in the classroom. Whether it’s bottles, cans, art supplies, or other items, many materials used in the classroom each day can be recycled. For example, the Santa Barbara County Resource Recovery & Waste Management Division notes that crayons are made from petroleum. That means crayons, like other oil-based products, can be recycled.

Use eco-friendly materials. In addition to recycling materials such as crayons, educators can begin using more eco-friendly materials, explaining to children how such usage benefits the planet. While the majority of crayons on the market are made from petroleum, many non-oil-based alternatives are available. Crayons made from soy or vegetable wax are two examples. Using such products helps to preserve natural resources while reducing dependency on oil, two valuable lessons kids can take with them for the rest of their lives.

Take steps to conserve energy. Classrooms present myriad opportunities to conserve energy. For example, modern classrooms are connected, and educators can teach students to turn computers and tablets off at the end of the day instead of putting them in sleep mode.

Going green in the classroom is easy and can help educators teach their students invaluable lessons about the environment and sustainability.