Last updated on April 29th, 2024 at 05:20 pm

How is it that time already? It’s still hot outside and it feels like summer just began, but somehow back to school shopping is already upon us.

This year, instead of automatically heading to the store with the teacher’s supply checklist, take inventory of what you already have in your home. You might already have what you need.

If you’ve had school-aged kids for several years, you probably never have to buy another pencil again. I have a whole pencil box full of unsharpened pencils the kids were given; I don’t think we will ever used them all. Same goes for colored pencils, glue sticks, and scissors.

Notebooks, folders, and 3-ring binders are another thing I have a stash of. At the end of every school year, I go through all their stuff and save what is salvageable. I recycle the papers I don’t want to keep and store the rest. (I also do this with those I get from various other places, like work.) Most of the time, the composition books the kids were required to have at the beginning of the school year are only half written in or less, so I tear out the used pages and save the rest for the next year. It might have their sibling’s name on the cover but they can get creative to make it theirs.

For those items you don’t already have, try out these eco-friendly school supplies for a sustainable year of learning.

Essential eco-friendly school supplies

Sustainable Backpacks

Eco-Friendly Backpack Brands

• Cotopaxi is a Certified B Corp, Climate Neutral certified, a 1% for the planet member, and 94% of their products contain recycled, repurposed, or responsibly sourced materials in all of their products by 2025..
• Fjällräven is a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and Fair Labor Association (FLA). Their company focuses on sustainable materials and practices for their products. They divide the materials they use into categories: excellent, like recycled wool, organic hemp and Tencel; good, such as recycled polyester, G-1000 Eco and traceable wool; OK, like polyamide, cotton, metal buttons; they don’t use PFCs, PVCs, and angora wool.
• Herschel is launching a new EcoSystem line in Fall 2023, which 91% of styles will be made with recycled materials. They are also members of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. I’ve had a Herschel backpack for a couple of years and I love it. It’s cute, functional, very sturdy, and reasonably priced.
• Patagonia. I’ve talked about this company a thousand times, but with their many eco-certifications and sustainability initiatives, I can’t help it. Happens they make great backpacks too. I own one that I’ve used for work for years and it’s still going strong.
• Terra Thread is a Certified B Corp, Fair Trade certified, climate neutral company, and the best part: their backpacks are plastic-free, made with GOTS certified organic cotton.
• If you need more options, explore more brands in these articles by Sustainable Jungle and Travel + Leisure.

Eco-friendly Paper Products

Paper might be one of the most important of all eco-friendly school supplies. Finding sustainable paper products largely entails locating paper made from recycled content. Nearly all paper products are recyclable. To learn more about paper recycling, click here.

100% recycled printer or Xerox paper is very easy to find, sold at stores like Staples, Target, Amazon, and Walmart.

For construction paper, go with the Office Depot brand paper, made from 100% recycled content. Recycled colored printer paper is harder to find; the best I can find are made with only 30% recycled materials. These include Hammermill colored paper, PrintWorks pastel paper, and Xerox Vitality Colors.

Notebooks

• Decomposition notebooks are made with 100% recycled paper and have really fun designs on the covers. They are available in both spiral notebook and composition books. They also have recycled filler paper for binders.
• Try out Brush with Bamboo’s notebook with bamboo covers and filled with 100% recycled paper.
• Filofax notebooks are refillable with FSC-certified paper.
  • Also available at Amazon / Staples / Walmart
• Go digital and try out a Rocketbook reusable notebook.
  • Also available at Amazon / Target / Walmart / Best Buy / Staples

Sketchbooks

• This Decomposition sketchbook is made with 100% recycled content.
• Strathmore and Canson are both made with 30% recycled content.

Three-ring binders

• Decomposition binders are made from 85% post-consumer waste recycled materials and have really cute designs on the covers.
• Samsill Earth’s Choice 3-ring binders are made from at least 59% biobased materials, including plastic and 100% recycled fiberboard.

Eco-Friendly Organization

Onyx and Green makes a variety of eco-friendly folders, page dividers and page protectors.

Folders

• These Five Star folders are made from 100% recycled plastic, or if you prefer 100% recycled paper, try Earthwise by Oxford Two-Pocket Folder.

Dividers

• Avery EcoFriendly 5 tab dividers are 100% recycled.

Page protectors

• Avery or Samsill page protectors made from 40% recycled materials.

Pencil Box

• Onyx and Green have several options of pencil pouches made from various materials like jute, cork, and recycled PET.
• The Firiri shop on Etsy sells handmade cotton pencil cases, and the proceeds go towards education of girls in rural areas of the Himalayas.
• Herschel has several sizes and colors of pencil cases made from recycled water bottles.

Zero Waste Writing Utensils & Accessories

Crayons

• You can send your broken, stubby crayons to Crazy Crayons, who collects them to create new products, which you can purchase here.
• Eco Kids Beeswax Triangle Crayons – blend of soy and beeswax
• Honeysticks Originals –  100% pure New Zealand Beeswax and food grade ingredients
• Sproutlings – soy and beeswax blend crayons and food-grade color pigments.

Erasers

Most erasers are made of synthetic rubber, but if you can find some made from natural rubber, good job! I have struggled to find some online that I feel confident in.

So for another alternative, try out these Onyx + Green recycled rubber erasers.

Markers

Office Depot is the spot for 100% recycled markers. Their own brand has the most options overall.

Highlighters

• Onyx and Green make highlighters from recycled materials.
• Faber Castell’s Textliner pastel highlighters are made with 100% recycled plastic and have water-based ink.
• Office Depot highlighters are also made from 100% recycled materials.

Dry Erase

• Auspen makes refillable dry erase markers that they claim will never need to be thrown away.
• Office Depot has many choices of 100% recycled dry erase markers.

Permanent

• These 100% recycled Office Depot brand permanent markers look like a good, eco-friendlier alternative to Sharpies. They are also available with an ultra-fine point.

Pencils

• Ticonderoga sources wood for their pencils from sustainably managed forests that are FSC or PEFC certified. Their Renew pencils are made with 53% pre-consumer recycled wood.
• Faber Castell also sources their wood from certified sustainably managed forests.
• BIC recycled mechanical pencils are made with 86% recycled plastic.
• Get yourself a refillable mechanical pencil.
• The AmberandRose shop on Etsy sell pencils are made from recycled newspaper.
• The Sprout Pencil can be planted when it becomes too stubby to write with.

Pencil Sharpener

I feel like all classrooms have their own pencil sharpener, or at least they should, making this an item you could skip.

But if you do need one, Onyx and Green makes a pencil sharpener made from bamboo, as well as one from recycled plastic with holes for two sizes of pencils.

Pens

Earth Hero has a lot of great options, like this refillable pen made from grass and recycled plastics, as well as Onyx and Green pens made from recyclable plastic, bamboo, wheat straw, or coffee beans. On Amazon, you can buy Pilot pens that are made from recycled water bottles. If you are shopping for BIC pens, look for an NF Environment label, indicating that they are made with recycled materials or are refillable.

Other School Necessities

Glue

Onyx and Green makes plant-based glue sticks and clear glue in recycled packaging.

Rulers

Onyx and Green has a ruler made from bamboo. Or go with one made of stainless steel, which will probably last forever but is also recyclable if necessary.

Scissors

• Fiskars ReNew scissors are made of 80% recycled materials and 13% cellulose fiber.
• SchoolWorks value smart scissors have a blunt tip and are a good option for kids. They contain 20% recycled content.
• Onyx and Green make biodegradable scissors out of stainless steel and corn plastic handles.
• If you want all steel scissors, Westcott stainless steel scissors and Fiskars forged scissors are both solid choices. They are 100% recyclable, in the unlikely event they no longer function.

Final Thoughts on Eco-Friendly School Supplies

I kind of have a weird thing for school and office supplies, so this topic alone was fun for me. Add in the eco-friendly challenge and now I’m so excited that I wish I was the one going back to school. Ok, that’s not at all true, but I am going to enjoy picking up the few things we need this fall.

Best of luck on another school year!

For back to school clothes shopping, click here to learn about sustainable clothing.