Just as you think you’re beginning to make progress with your children’s green education, the holidays end. The little darlings are swept back to school where, chances are, they won’t be reminded to turn off the lights and they will forget your important lesson about why paper and glass, not half-chewed sandwiches, should be put in the green bin. But don’t despair, there are already 4,446 official eco-schools in England and Wales (eco-schools.org.uk), co-ordinated by Encams, the charity that runs the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, and there are plenty of ways that parents can get involved.

The programme encourages and rewards environmental commitment and pupil involvement within schools. And it’s easy to join: parents as well as teachers can get the ball rolling by registering (as long as the head teacher’s consent has been given). Part of the registration process enables schools to choose one of nine eco topics to focus on, including healthy living, global perspective and biodiversity. All member schools are automatically entered into an awards system. For a bronze, a school needs to show evidence that it has identified an action team and is sharing its action plan with the whole school. It is also expected to complete an environmental review, to set up a noticeboard dedicated to green progress and to cover eco- issues in the curriculum.

For further inspiration, look to Cassop primary school, near Durham. It has 22 photovoltaic solar panels, a wind turbine and a woodchip burning boiler, allowing it to meet all its energy requirements. Regular trips to landfill sites inform its 100 pupils about the power of the three Rs: reducing, reusing, recycling. As a final stamp of approval, it won a £10,000 grant at the annual Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy this June. The other joint winner in the schools category was Eastchurch Primary School, in Kent. It set up groups of pupils, known as E-teams, that patrol classrooms, checking that lights are switched off and organising recycling, confirming my suspicions that you’re never too young for a bit of eco-thuggery.

Reverse-vending machine

Of all the ways to implement waste disposal on campus, one of the most innovative is the reverse vending machine. Usually these devices spew out crisps, cans of Coke and Cadbury’s chocolate, but this one, as its name suggests, works in reverse. Instead of receiving junk, you take it your rubbish. Magically, it identifies the material by reading its barcode and responds accordingly. Cans are crushed, plastic bottles compacted and vending cups shredded. For prices and how to get one, visit reversevending.co.uk. How is this different from a row of recycling skips? Well, it stops children filling the bins with the wrong thing — every child goes through a stage of thinking that it would be fun to shove dog poo in the aluminium can bin (unless that was just me). Also, it’s space-efficient; rubbish is compacted to one tenth of its original volume. And it keeps a record of what it has been fed so that progress can be monitored. Hats off, then, to Orton Longville School in Peterborough, one of nine schools in the UK to have introduced the system. Subsequent reports suggest that its playground litter has been reduced by more than 60 per cent. Success lies in the school’s incentive system, which dispenses vouchers with points, to be collected and cashed in by pupils as the school sees fit. For other green measures, parents are invited to get in touch with Global Action Plan (globalaction plan.org.uk) to see if their school is eligible for its government-funded Action on Waste.

Dump the school run

One of the clearest marks of a green school is how pupils arrive. A flood of 4x4 vehicles belching fumes into the playground is a lousy start to the day. The first international Walk to School Month takes place in October encouraging parents to ditch the car. The campaign (walktoschool.org.uk) details the experiences children gain by practising road safety and exploring their community, as well as the health benefits.

If you don’t fancy using two legs, there’s always two wheels. This year the Government announced a £30 million initiative to get children cycling, with more cycle paths to schools and a new proficiency test, focusing on safety and road training. Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity (saferoutestoschools.org.uk), runs a nationwide Bike It scheme, as part of its efforts to create safe routes to school for every child. If you would like your school to work with Bike It, e-mail schools@sustrans.org.uk. It also promotes sharing lifts (liftshare.org).

Uniform

You can adopt a green agenda before you’ve even left the house. If you haven’t already raided the high street for school attire, it’s worth looking up Clean Slate Clothing (cleanslateclothing.co.uk), the UK’s first range of Fairtrade and organic cotton school uniform. The clothes look pretty acceptable; with classic items such as pleated pinafores (£16) and polo shirts (£13).

Finally, there’s the lunchbox. Planet-saving or not, no one could be so cruel as to pack kids off with only a few knobbly organic carrots for company. But it pays to think about packaging.

Single-serving, pre-packaged snack foods — of the Cheese Dipper family — weigh in as more plastic than grub. To avoid the clingfilm and tinfoil that plagues playground bins, try lakelandlimited.co.uk for multi-compartment lunchboxes.

As anyone who grew up with environmentalists for parents will tell you, a gentle approach is vital to prevent children from rebelling. So, leave the Save the Whale banner at home. Unless you’re secretly hoping to raise kids who will make megabucks working for a multinational.