A Greener Way For School Fund Raising

WASHINGTON (WUSA) -- It's a new school year, an exciting time for kids, but for some parents, it's also about the first fundraising drive of the year. For Lafayette Elementary School in Northwest, and for Burning Tree Elementary in Bethesda, this year marks a change in their fall fund raising campaigns. They're selling things like recycled lunch bags, water bottles, green cleaning supplies and even doggie treats.

This year is different; these product's are from a company called Greenraising. From www.greenraising.com:

Greenraising was started by the parents of elementary school children who watched how their school's parents associations struggled each year to raise the funds necessary to provide an excellent education, and who bought their share of cookie dough and magazines to help that happen. At the same time, they noticed that their children were coming home with concerns about the environment, pollution, global warming and living conditions in the world, and were feeling helpless to change things. A little research yielded a host of small things each family could do to help the situation, and a light bulb went off (well, technically a compact fluorescent bulb). Greenraising was created to help solve both problems: raise money for schools and give children an opportunity to learn that their actions can change the world.

Now, schools and other organizations are coming on board, and the schools involved are feeling good about not just the funds they are collecting, but the positive lesson it teaches the kids.