Three schools in South Orange and Maplewood are participating in a unique fundraiser with Kings Super Market that is also good for the environment.

It's the Kings School Reuse Challenge, and it teams Kings, the schools and a company called My Eco that manufactures reusable grocery bags.

Natalia Fuentes of My Eco filled Patch in on some of the background: "The daughter of the man who invented the plastic grocery sack, Kristen Brown, is leading a grassroots effort to change behavior in New Jersey towards reuse. In partnership with Kings Super Markets, more than 40 New Jersey schools are taking the School Reuse Challenge this fall. The Challenge is a fundraiser that pairs schools with local grocery stores to ignite the switch from disposable plastic and paper bags to reusable. To prove their commitment to sustainability, Kings is offering to donate thousands of dollars to participating New Jersey schools."

When families buy a My Eco bag system through the fundraiser (the cost is $20), $5 is donated to their designated school. Each time the bag is used and the bar code is run through the scanner, points are earned toward purchasing items for the school.

The South Orange and Maplewood district schools participating are Columbia High School, South Orange Middle School and Clinton Elementary.

Amy Janay, assistant to the Vice President of Fundraising for Clinton School PTA in Maplewood, said that she is heading up the My Eco fundraiser there. Janay and Janet Trzaska presented the idea to the Clinton PTA Executive Board in late September.

Immediately thereafter, fliers went out in backpacks, email blasts were sent to all parents, and the PTA had a display and Q&A about the challenge at back-to-school night. Letters encouraging teachers to "talk it up" went out last week.

Since participants can purchase the systems online, Janay says she doesn't have a clear idea yet of how big participation is. But she notes that the challenge, which runs through October 22, is about more than raising money for the school: "We are just so excited that this is a relevant, practical, awesome greenraiser and we are truly honored to be participating."

Janay added, "Clinton considers itself a 'green' school, and reinforces the RRR theme [reduce, reuse, recycle] in many ways. We recycle cell phones, juice pouches, and many other items."

She also said that the PTA was mindful that, since the bag systems cost $20, "some of our families may not be able to afford to pay for a bag system, and we are trying to not put too much pressure on the kids."

Still, the challenge is a great way to reinforce values that are a part of major Clinton School initiatives like the Earth Day recycled hat parade and the Clinton School recycled Memorial Day Parade float. "We love the fact that My Eco presented us with a green fundraiser that allows us to sell something people can use every week. Our goal is to sell at least 100 bag systems. As the My Eco video states, if 100 people use the system every week for one year, 100,000 plastic bags will be saved. That is an incredible number, and a great example of how our school can make a big impact."