Best Eco-Friendly Fundraising Ideas for Schools

Fundraising plays an important role in schools in order to ensure that our children have access to the best resources and facilities to support their learning. If you’re sick of the typical cookie boxes or stalls selling cheap, plastic tat, and you’re looking for ideas that aren’t unhealthy or bad for the environment, you’ve come to the right place! This is a blog post that will show you the best eco-friendly fundraising ideas for schools.

We’ve found a whole range of awesome fundraising ideas that can help to raise much-needed funds for your school, at the same time as teaching kids about health, environmental awareness, community and sustainability.

Selling growing products

Selling seeds or growing kits for flowers, plants, herbs and vegetables is one of the best eco-friendly fundraising ideas for schools. Those who take part can learn about the needs of living things and get the satisfaction of being able to grow something that they can then eat or use.

To make the event really easy to organise, you can do it all through Australian company Sow’n’Sow. Each pack is made in Australia from 100% recycled materials and includes a packet of seeds, a tearaway plant label for marking where seeds have been planted and an envelope for gifting or mailing purposes. You can find out more at https://sownsow.com/sustainable-seed-fundraiser/

Holding a bring-and-buy sale

A bring-a-buy sale is an eco friendly fundraising sale in which people donate items to be sold and also buy items sold by others. It’s a great way for families to declutter and pick up a bargain, while it ensures that goods get reused and repurposed rather than ending up in landfill. Separate tables can be set up for the various objects, such as clothing, toys and books. Inviting the whole local community to come to the event can ensure high sales, and older students could be asked to run the stalls.

Having a litter pick or creek clean-up

Holding a litter-picking event is a great way to clean up local areas and waterways, and prevent litter from harming wildlife or making its way into the ocean. It’s a great way to get students hands-on with making a difference in their local environment.

It can also be one of the best eco-friendly fundraising ideas for schools. Students can be sponsored based on the amount of litter they collect (e.g. 20c per item), which can also encourage them to collect as much waste as possible on the day!

Selling reusable shopping bags

With the ban on single-use shopping bags, it’s a great time for people to look at alternatives to plastic. Eco-friendly shopping bags are popular and practical items that make a great product to sell to raise money for schools.

There are several companies that offer eco-bags for fundraisers. Expressions has 100% cotton bags that can be customised with students’ designs, like the tea towels they also offer. Ecosilk bags also has beautiful, durable bags that come in a range vibrant colours.

Having a recycling collection

One very simple fundraising idea is to set up a collection point at school for items that companies will buy back, such as old smartphones, eligible containers, toner and inkjet cartridges, and more.

Turn the community’s waste into cash for your school with whatever products you choose. TerraCycle often holds programs where items such as beauty product packaging can be collected and redeemed for payment to the school. Check out Envirobank, CashaPhone and We Buy Cartridges for other options.

Hosting an eco market

There are a huge number of Brisbane companies selling a wide range of eco products. Why not promote those products and raise money by holding an eco market? You can invite companies to hold a stall at the market for a set fee, and you can also charge a small entry fee to customers to raise additional funds. And why not keep thirsty and hungry guests happy with a tea and coffee stall and sausage sizzle too?

Selling soap and socks

Instead of a box of cookies, why not consider having a box of soaps or socks? Ecostore is a great company that offers fundraising carry boxes with beautiful chemical-, cruelty- and GE-free soaps that can be sold for a profit of $1 per bar.

Jolly Soles also provides fundraiser carry boxes, this time for socks in various sizes. EcoSox also offers socks for fundraising. They have eco-friendly socks made from bamboo viscose that can be customised with your design or logo, such as your school logo.

We hope you agree that these are some of the best eco-friendly fundraising ideas for schools. We would love to hear of any ideas your school or kindy has undertaken- let us know in comments below!