TOTE IT
A pupil's money pouch
September 21, 2009
Roslyn Kavanagh was putting money into a plastic bag for her 6-year-old son for pizza day at John T. Tuck Public School in Burlington when she started thinking about all the plastic bags ferried between homes and schools in the region.
And not just on pizza day. There are permission slips, money for milk day, field trips, hot lunches and snack days. She estimated that if all students at public elementary schools in Halton brought two plastic bags a month to school – a conservative estimate – they'd send more than 700,000 plastic bags to the landfill every school year.
Kavanagh couldn't find a happy alternative, so she invented one – an organic cotton pouch that slips into the front pocket of a school agenda book.
Like Henry Ford's Model T, they come in any colour you want – as long as it's black. Kavanagh says she wanted a colour that would stand up to stains (including dropped pizza) and could be washed. She wanted uniformity so the totes will be instantly recognizable to teachers and parents.
The mini-tote is available online at green-school.ca, for $7, the pencil tote is $8 and the book tote $10.
Toronto Star