Tax-free with a side of BPA-free and PVC-free, Thank You!

I cannot believe that it’s August already and tax-free back-to-school shopping weekend is here.  Though I’m loathe to think about summer ending (because I know what a busy fall we at Better World Betty have in store for Charlottesville!), I will definitely be taking advantage.  Will you?

Beginning tomorrow, Friday, August 2 and through Sunday, August 4, there is a sales tax holiday on the purchase of school supplies, including eligible clothing and footwear.  Consumers will save the 5.3 percent of purchase price they normally would pay on all school supplies that are $20 or less per item and on certain clothing and footwear that is $100 or less per item.  This is fabulous.  So if you HAVE to by new, which is lots of the time NOT NECESSARY (see my 2009 blog post on how to save money, trees and resources http://www.betterworldbetty.org/bettys-top-ten-back-to-school-tips/), take advantage.

With the new school year beginning on Wednesday, August 21, this is a perfect time to plan for your student’s school needs and save money in the process.  You can visit this site for more information:
http://www.tax.virginia.gov/site.cfm?alias=SchoolSuppliesAndClothingHoliday

But remember these four tips:

1-      Tree-Free: look for products containing recycled materials.  I like most of the Eco-Easy Staples brand, though beware of their spiral notebooks.  The papers fall out very easily.

2-      Safety First: BPA-free plastics and/or aluminum water bottles, PVC-free lunch totes

3-      Think DURABILITY backpacks (which will last longer than just one school year), organic and natural fiber clothing preferably made in the US (I admit this is not always easy).

4-      Finally, Less is More.  Don’t fall into the trap of overbuying and being “guilted” into buying 10 new boxes of pencils, 15 notebooks, and 23 gluesticks.  It will be O.K.

Thanks for caring,

Betty