Back to School: Green, Environmentally-Friendly School Supplies for Kids

Back-to-school season is about to hit in full force. Each year, millions of parents browse their favorite stores to pick up school supplies for the new school year. That equates to millions of backpacks, tons of notebooks, armfuls of pencils and reams upon reams of paper. One has to wonder: Is this good for the environment?

Thankfully, shopping to go back to school can also be an excuse to go back to basic, eco-friendly school supplies. There is a green, environmentally-conscious school supply alternative for every single one of your school and homework needs.

The Best Green, Eco-Friendly School Supplies

Green School Supplies: Backpacks: This is an essential back-to-school item. You want a big backpack that will hold all of your child's books and class work. You also want to avoid backpacks made of vinyl, which is the backpack material of choice by many commercial backpack manufacturers. Why? Because, according to environmental experts at Greenpeace, vinyl can be a very toxic type of plastic (source).

Instead, buy your child a eco-friendly backpack made of non-toxic material like nylon, or a green backpack made of natural material like hemp.

Rawganique sells organic hemp backpacks on their website. Many commercial manufactures produce non-vinyl backpacks, as well.

Green School Supplies: Rulers: Every child needs a ruler when he's going back to school. Most rulers that you can buy in the store come in either plastic or wood. It's hard choosing the ruler that is most environmentally-friendly, because one is, well, plastic; the other is made from killing trees. Short of a coin toss, there IS a green alternative to mainstream rulers: A recycled ruler.

A company called Amazing Recycled Products (the name says it all!) manufacturers recycled rules made of blue jeans, money, newspaper and polystyrene. To say the least, your child will be the new cool kid at school when she pulls out her recycled denim ruler.

Green School Supplies: Pencils: Oh, the almighty pencil! It's peerless when it comes to writing, drawing pictures and math. Nothing is better than a pencil! But sometimes, the pencils are made from wood that is chopped and processed from non-regulated forests.

For a pencil that is guaranteed to please your child and your inner hippie, I like a company called TreeSmart. TreeSmart produces green, eco pencils made from 100 percent recycled, rolled newspaper. They look cool, and you don't have to worry about using a pencil made from trees. They're not expensive, either!

Green School Supplies: Paper and Notebook Paper: Paper, paper, paper! Paper is a product of logging and deforestation, which makes finding a green school supply alternative a bit difficult, right? Wrong! Most stores, even Wal-mart, sell notebook paper made from 100 percent recycled paper. Just make sure you check the paper package before you buy it.

Green School Supplies: Binders and Notebooks: Most notebooks are made from plastic, and we're well verse in the dangers of plastic to the environment. My favorite place to buy a green school supply alternative to plastic binders is Jorgel Binders. They're made from cardboard, and the inside metal rings can snap out of the old binders when they wear down, therefore reducing consumption and your impact on the environment!

Back to School Supplies: Are you green enough?

Shopping for back-to-school supplies with your child can be a great time to share the environmental values that you wish to impart. As you search for green school supplies, take a moment to explain to your child why it's important that we take care of the earth. Just like going to school, saving the planet by making green purchasing decisions is a smart thing to do.

There are green school supply alternatives to every mainstream product. You can get recycled paper clips, and even recycled lunchboxes. When your child goes back to school, he or she will be decked out in the finest green, recycled school supplies. That in itself deserves an A-plus!