To raise funds, some Seattle schools are switching from selling typical items to more sustainable products such as re-usable plastic bottles and natural jewelry. Jane McCarthy reports on the new trend for King 5 News.
SEATTLE, WASH. -- From wrapping paper to cookies, school children go out every year hoping to appeal to your generosity to help their schools. Now, some school fundraisers are getting a makeover.
The concept is called "greenraising." Instead of selling scented candles or cookie dough, some local schools are switching the focus, raising money and teaching kids about environmentally friendly products.
To Grace Phillips, PTA fundraising is enormously important.
She doesn't mind helping to sell things to raise money for schools, but she wanted to raise the bar with the products being offered.
"I didn't want to buy that stuff, so, as the VP of fundraising, I decided that it was time for someone to do some research into some more environmental alternatives," said Phillips, PTA fundraiser.
Phillips helped arrange her school's first ever "greenraiser."
It's the brainchild of mom Lisa Olsen, whose own kids were in elementary school when she founded greenraising.
"I have three kids at home and I saw how much the school really needed to raise money. At the same time I saw them talking about eating healthy and making healthy choices, and then selling cookie dough," said Olsen.
Olsen looked for alternative and couldn't find one, so she created her own. Her greenraising group has already helped nearly a thousand schools and organizations with greenraising, including several in Washington state.
Today, some of the new eco-friendly sites for fundraising offer earth-friendly items such as biodegradable lunch bags, re-usable plastic bottles, natural jewelry and foods. For some groups, it's just a better fit on two fronts.
"Teach the kids as well as raise money," said Olson.
More than a dozen Washington schools and organizations have signed up for greenraising.
For the complete story, visit King 5 News.
