Don't Throw Away Your Leftover Chalk Pieces, From Discount School Supply!

Hello to all. This is Kristi Lawler, Texas Account Manager for Discount School Supply. One of my favorite things about my job here at Discount School Supply is helping customers make the most of their money. In times like these, coming up with ideas to make a little go a long way is a big deal. My own kids go through a lot of sidewalk chalk and once it gets down to the little ‘leftover’ pieces the kids won’t really use it anymore. I was thinking about how wasteful it was to throw them away, so this is the idea that we came up with.

First, you have the kids help you sort the chalk by color (also a great learning activity), then put them in individual plastic bags. Next, smash them up (we used a rolling pin – the kids loved this part!). Once you have ground up the chalk, place each color in its own plastic cup and add a small amount of water. Mix it up, give them some paintbrushes and let them paint with it on the sidewalk! It makes beautiful, bright colors and gives them another way to use the chalk; plus uses up the leftover pieces so you don’t have any waste! Enjoy!

Recycle Please...

Hello, everyone. My name is Kevin Kiper and I am the Director of Direct Marketing at Discount School Supply. I oversee the printing and mailing of the Discount School Supply catalog. As I’m writing this on Earth Day, I wanted to share with you two of the ways we make all of our catalogs environmentally friendly:

Recycle, Please! All of our catalogs are 100% recyclable and can be recycled with your newspapers and other paper goods. DSS is a participant in the Direct Marketing Association’s “Recycle Please” program to promote and encourage the recycling of catalogs and other direct mail. A recent survey showed that while over 80% of all newspaper is now recycled, less than 40% of catalogs and other direct mail makes it to the recycle bin. Many consumers mistakenly think that catalogs are not recyclable. They are. So, please recycle! And, if you’re already a recycler, thank you!

Support Sustainable Forestry. The paper used in our catalogs is harvested from sustainable forests and is chain-of-custody certified. What this means is that the trees used in the manufacturing of the paper used in our catalogs have been taken from forest areas that are certified to be planted and harvested in a sustainable manner. No “old growth” trees or trees from protected areas are used in the production of our paper stocks. A “chain of custody” follows the tree from the forest to the mill and eventually to the printer with documentation to guarantee that the paper being used has come from a certified sustainable area. In addition, both the paper mill and the printer must also earn special certifications in order to be eligible to handle “chain of custody” paper. Our forests are a renewable resource if used and managed responsibly, and we actively support their conservation.

You might also be interested to know that Discount School Supply employees raised funds internally last year to plant over 1100 trees in forested areas of California that had been destroyed by wild fires.

I’ll be back from time to time to share more information about how we’re working to make our catalogs “green”. In the meantime, please feel free to share your comments and suggestions with us.