Talking about the important of the environment to children is important, but actions speak louder than words. In fact, actions that directly affect children, like walking them to school if it's close enough and using green school supplies make a big impression upon them.

Here are some examples of green or environmentally friendly school supplies:

Glue, markers, and crayons: buy ones marked as "non toxic."

Lunches: Use reusable containers. Try to minimize plastic bags unless you can reuse them at least a few times. Snacks that are individually wrapped may be convenient but are not typically green at all.

Drinks: Use a metal container if possible instead of plastic, which may leach chemicals into the liquids. Plenty of metal drinking drink containers are available and they last a long time and kids love them.

Paper and paper products: Some office supply stores have green paper and paper products, often mad e of recycled paper and produced in environmentally friendly ways. The two office stores near my office for example both stock them. There are also plenty of online suppliers.

Calculators:  Solar powered calculators are common, work well, and pretty cool. It sure beats having to replace batteries as well as having them run out at inconvenient times.

Computers: "Energy star Certified" are available. They consume as little electricity as possible. More information is available at http://www.energystar.gov.

It's important to set a great example with children. With the environment, we can stress making green choices and why they are important with many types of school supplies. Actions do speak louder than words and make a bigger impression that is remembered.