Green Your Back-to-School Season

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010 | Green Big Picture, Green Goods & Reviews, Green Trends, Raising Green Kids, Recycle stuff, Reduce stuff, Reuse stuff | Lindsey O'Connor | 1 Comment

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Well, it’s that time of the year again. Summer went by quickly, didn’t it? And although it’s sad to leave beach days, family barbeques, and all-around summertime relaxing behind, you and your family have another journey to start: the new school year!

This time of the year is always overwhelming. So we here at Practically Green hope to make life a little easier by offering a round- up of all the great green back-to-school ideas we’ve been hearing, our personal picks for eco-friendly school supplies and of course, actions that will earn you points, points, points!

Pencils and Pens.

Let’s start with the small stuff. Staples’ Eco Easy brand offers some great eco-friendly mechanical pencils made from 72% recycled content. They also have pens made from 62% recycled plastic. If you’re looking for something fun, we like O’BON’s colorful fruit pencils made from 100% recycled newspaper. Papermate has cool biodegradable pens and mechanical pencils.

Binders and Folders.

Naked Binder has two-pocket folders and binders made of 100% recycled and recyclable materials and 97% post consumer waste. ReBinder sells folders made of recycled fibers and binders without toxic vinyl material. Staples’ Eco Easy brand has eco-friendly view binders. Check out these folders from Sasquatch with some earthy, interesting designs. Seventh Generation also has great suggestions for writing utensils and notebooks!

Notebooks.

How about a notebook that looks like giant falcon plumage? O’BON has a large selection of eco-friendly notebooks, like the non-toxic Sugarcane Series, which is made from sugarcane paper, soy-based inks. We also liked Ecojot’s spiral notebooks. And if you’re already at Staples, their Eco Easy brand also has recycled notebooks as well!

Paper.

If you’re looking for recycled paper, Staples Eco Easy has some great choices for filler and white printer paper. New Leaf Paper carries lined and copy paper made from post-consumer waste.

Art Supplies.

Feel like drawing? We like O’BON’s Wildlife colored pencils, made of recycled newspaper; and we can’t wait to try Prang Soybean crayons. Our all-time favorite markers are Crayola’s AP Certified Nontoxic, washable markers.

Backpacks.

How about a TerraCycle backpack made from old drink pouches and cookie wrappers! We also like Lands’ End eco-friendly backpack made from 100% recycled fabric. Grist also has great ideas for eco-friendly backpacks and bags.

P.S. Pop some all-natural hand sanitizer in the backpack, and earn 20 points!

We’re fans of the Environmental Working Group for many reasons, and they’ve compiled a handy green back-to-school shopping list. Want to go beyond your children’s back-to-school supplies? Consider joining greenschools, a non-profit organization whose mission is “to create greener and healthier learning environments through education and awareness.” They’ll help you tackle important, basic stuff like indoor air quality, healthy food and habits, and reducing, reusing and recycling at your school.

Transportation.

Remember that you can also earn points by walking, biking or carpooling to school. All three actions help reduce emissions and are great ways to get exercise and meet new friends. Remember to load up on the sunscreen! We have several all-natural brands for you to try.