This is a guest post by ACE Field Correspondent Jae Williams, sophomore at Dougherty Valley High School in Northern California.

Earlier this month, I received my first ACE Field Correspondent assignment: how do you go back to school eco friendly?
I came up with this tip that is great for the environment and fun, too!

Before the era of BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag), more earth conscious shoppers would choose paper over plastic. But since earth warriors everywhere now have their own ways of carrying groceries home, you may have some paper bags laying around. Here’s a fun way to get rid of the bags and cover your books.

You’ll need a textbook, a paper bag, tape, and a pair of scissors.

First, take the bag and cut down the thinner side panels to make the bag look like a giant plus sign, kind of like this.

Second, take your book and place it in the middle of the thicker panel of your “plus sign”. Open your book to the front cover and press it flat against the bag. Then, fold the paper over, maybe halfway onto the cover and tape it down.

Flip to the back cover and repeat. Now, you can cut off the thinner panels, because you won’t need them anymore!

After that, you can fix the sloppy edges by folding them towards the inner cover and taping them down, like so:

Repeat for any “sloppy edges” you may have. And voila! You have a clean slate to decorate with pens, stickers, markers, even glitter!

A quick tip: a great place to order reusable bags for every aspect of your life is from Mixed Bag Designs. They have all sorts of colors and patterns for lunchboxes, tote bags, even  iPhone covers. I bought a bag from them and now by school books always have a place to be.

Happy Earth Saving!