Remember that crisp excitement of September mornings when choosing fresh notebooks and sharpened pencils would make this year the one when you were cool? For kids, back-to-school season carries the same fresh-start energy as New Year’s Day. This year, let’s make that fresh start count for our planet, too.

The average student’s packed lunch generates approximately 67 pounds of waste per school year, contributing to the staggering 14,500 tons of waste U.S. public schools produce daily. By making simple switches to sustainable school supplies, your family can significantly reduce this environmental impact while teaching your kids valuable lessons about resource conservation.

Here’s your complete guide to greener back-to-school shopping that doesn’t compromise on quality or budget.

This article contains affiliate links. If you purchase an item through one of these links, we receive a small commission that helps fund our editorial work.

Sustainable Shopping: Secondhand and Beyond

Don’t overlook the most sustainable option: buying nothing new. Find high-quality secondhand backpacks, binders, and clothing at consignment stores, often for up to 50% less than retail prices. When buying new, look for brands that use sustainable materials, such as recycled nylon, organic cotton, and hemp, and avoid cheaper backpacks that wear faster and require more frequent replacement.

Notebooks: Writing a Better Story

With the many options available today, it’s easy to make a green change by purchasing recycled paper. Look for notebooks and loose-leaf paper made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled content. As more of us make this shift, we can drastically reduce the number of trees cut down and processed into paper. “Some brands of school notebooks, copy paper, and filler paper come directly from rainforests in Indonesia, temperate Boreal forests in Canada, and other sensitive ecosystems,” warns Lafcadio Cortesi, former Boreal Forest campaign director with ForestEthics (now Stand.earth).

When choosing notebooks, look beyond the colorful covers to the quality of the paper inside. Traditional paper notebooks contribute significantly to deforestation, with some brands sourcing directly from rainforests in Indonesia and Canada’s Boreal forests.

Greenroom Recycled Notebooks remain an excellent starting point for environmentally conscious families. Made from 60-70% recycled fiber and printed with nontoxic soy-based ink, these Target-exclusive notebooks are not sold at other retailers.

By choosing recycled instead, your student will get the same clean slate feeling while you help conserve virgin resources. Don’t think that you’ll have to venture into obscure shops to track them down, either. Popular retailers like Target and Amazon carry brands like this eye-catching spiral notebook by Greenroom, made of 60-70 percent recycled fiber and printed with nontoxic soy-based ink.

For premium sustainable notebooks, Michael Roger Press Decomposition Books continue to set the gold standard. This family-owned company has been producing eco-conscious products since 1949, manufacturing them in the USA whenever possible using 100% post-consumer recycled paper and soy-based inks. While they cost $8-12 per notebook, their durability and performance make them a worthwhile investment.

Pens and Pencils: Rethinking the Write Stuff

The statistics surrounding pen waste are eye-opening: Americans discard 1.6 billion disposable pens annually, generating plastic waste that can take up to 1,000 years to decompose in a landfill.

Pilot B2P (Bottle to Pen) Pens offer an innovative solution to this problem. Made from 89% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, these pens feature the same smooth G-2 gel ink technology that made Pilot America’s number-one selling gel pen. At approximately $1.33 per pen, they’re refillable and compatible with standard Pilot G-2 refills, significantly extending their lifespan.

For your pencil-using student, check out these recycled newspaper pencils from Pencil Guy Pencils, made of 100 percent recycled newspaper.

Lunch Boxes: Containing the Problem

School lunch packaging waste represents one of the most impactful areas for change. Research shows that approximately 42% of the 14,500 tons of daily school waste comes from food packaging, making lunch container choices particularly important. To cut down on this waste, invest in a stainless steel lunch boxes, reusable snack and juice pouches, and reusable utensils for a waste-free lunch hour.

Stainless steel lunch boxes offer the most sustainable solution. PlanetBox stainless steel lunch boxes are designed to rinse clean or go straight in the dishwasher, ensuring they last year after year without cracks or warping.

ECOLunchboxes offers another excellent stainless steel option, made from 100% nontoxic stainless steel and silicone, in various sizes, suitable for different age groups and appetite levels. Give a listen to our interview with Sandra Ann Harris, founder of ECOLunchboxes.

While not traditional notebooks, consider pairing sustainable paper products with Klean Kanteen’s Rise Food Boxes for art supplies and small items. Made with certified 90% post-consumer recycled 18/8 stainless steel and food-grade silicone, Klean Kanteen containers are microwave-, oven-, and dishwasher-safe, perfect for storing art supplies, erasers, and other small school essentials.

Wardrobe: Wearing Your Values

In my family, it was something of a back-to-school ritual, going shopping with Mom to replenish the basics: jeans, tee-shirts, sweaters, and jackets. For an eco-friendly (not to mention inexpensive) approach to annual sartorial search, find a great local secondhand or consignment store. Clothes will be as much as half the price of what they cost new. Plus, that first-day outfit will come with a much smaller carbon footprint. When you’re done with clothes, simple donate or recycle them.

Backpacks: Carrying Forward Sustainability

Traditional backpacks often rely on virgin polyester and unsustainable manufacturing practices. The global backpack market, valued at nearly $14 billion in 2020, continues to offer more sustainable alternatives each year.

Fjällräven Kånken backpacks remain popular for all the right reasons. The classic Kånken is made from hard-wearing Vinylon F fabric that resists dirt and moisture, while the Re-Kånken special edition is made entirely from polyester recycled from plastic bottles using SpinDye technology, which reduces water, energy, and chemical usage.

Packs like the Fjallraven’s Fjällräven Kånken’s children’s backpacks are made under humane conditions, using natural eco-friendly fabrics, and a portion of profits go towards artic fox preservation.

Patagonia backpacks continue to lead in sustainability innovation. Their Black Hole collection backpacks are made with body fabric and webbing that are 100% made from recycled plastic bottles. Patagonia uses over 10 million plastic bottles to make backpacks every season.

Cotopaxi’s Allpa backpacks, available in a variety of colors, represent cutting-edge sustainable design. In 2022, 98% of Cotopaxi’s products contained repurposed, recycled, or responsible materials, with their Allpa backpacks made from 100% recycled fabrics. As a certified B Corporation, Cotopaxi also demonstrates that outdoor gear can be both high-performance and environmentally responsible.

Teaching Sustainability Through Shopping

Back-to-school shopping offers perfect teachable moments to get your kids thinking about environmental responsibility. Ask them to read labels with you to understand the percentages of recycled content in a product. Habits like calculating the environmental impact of their choices developed in childhood are more likely to be sustained through adulthood. Lessons taught through back-to-school shopping are investments in our planet’s future.

Contrary to popular belief, sustainable school supplies often provide better long-term value. While the price may be a bit higher, choosing durable materials leads to longer product life. Waste-free packed lunches alone can save families an average of nearly $250 per person per year. That’s money that could fund those slightly pricier but longer-lasting sustainable notebooks and backpacks.

Making the Switch

Start small if a total sustainable switch feels overwhelming. Replace one category at a time — perhaps lunch containers this year, notebooks next year. Every sustainable swap reduces waste, conserves resources, and demonstrates to children that individual choices matter.

This back-to-school season, let’s write a better story for our planet. With these sustainable alternatives, your family can reduce waste, save money, and teach the next generation that taking care of our environment is always in style.

Editor’s note: Originally published on August 10, 2015, this article was comprehensively updated July 2025.