Eco Friendly Back to School Shopping. How to Save Money and Reduce Waste
- melora johnson
- Aug 20
- 5 min read
If you’re already dreading back-to-school shopping, you’re not alone. But before you click “add to cart” or roll your wagon through Walmart, take a pause. The real cost of buying everything new goes far beyond the credit card bill you will be receiving. Yes, that alone adds up to an average of $144 per child each year. The bigger price is the environmental toll. An estimated 77% of school supplies end up in landfills annually, where they add to a mounting waste crisis. The good news is, there are simple ways to cut both the expense and the waste. By reusing school supplies you already have, purchasing second-hand, organizing a back-to-school swap, or buying only what’s truly needed while choosing eco-friendly school supply options, you will save yourself some cash and be doing the planet a solid.
Do back to school supplies lose their value when they are used?
If your kids went to school last year, I imagine you were given a school supply list and you bought it all. What happened to it? Did it all get used up? That was never my experience. It was much more common that at the end of the year, when my kids cleaned out their desks or lockers, the supplies would still be there, plenty of them untouched or at least barely used. I would dump them all into a box, a bag, or a drawer to “deal with later” and then pretty much forget about them.
As a mother of three, I have all sorts of memories (none of them good) of the whole “back to school shopping” thing. First, the list comes out. Of course, three kids means three totally different lists, each with up to 20 items per list. For the record, my kids have attended private and public schools both overseas and in multiple states in the US. It seems to me to be a pretty universal thing, this whole back to school shopping rip-off hype thingy.
There is this unspoken but very clear message that if you fail to comply with the directive, you are really not taking your parenting responsibilities seriously. You are not supporting your child’s education. Oh, and it really doesn’t matter that you clearly remember last year's (and the year before last year’s) supplies coming back into your home in June largely unopened or barely used. This year’s list, much the same as last year's list, is not to be questioned.
If the list says 12 pencils, that implies “buy a package of 12 brand new pencils”. You know you have at least 4 times that many barely used pencils in your school supply or junk drawer, but those are used, and what kind of a parent are you if you send those? Ridiculous, yet we all feel it. It is absurd, and just one more example of advertisers putting pressure on us to conform.
Companies spend a shocking amount of money advertising back to school stuff!
Advertisers ranging from retailers to cleaning supply brands spent an estimated $50 million on back-to-school campaigns in July and the first two weeks of August, up 35% from the same period last year, according to measurement firm iSpot. They spent $50 MILLION to get us to believe we must buy it all and buy it all new.
Here is something to consider. Investing in your kid’s future is obviously a good thing. However, maybe we need to redefine what that means, particularly when we get caught up in the back to school buying frenzy. If we keep consuming at our current rate our children are not going to have much of a future, because by the time they are our age our planet is going to look very different.
5 upsetting statistics about back to school shopping
The average American school wastes an estimated 67 pounds per student per year in disregarded school supplies and lunches.
U.S. families will shell out more than $25 billion on new pens, pencils, clothes, and more
67% of parents say spending is more heavily influenced by schools’ recommended list rather than their children
87% of parents intend to spend the same or more compared to last year.
Analysis of a survey conducted in one town
80% percent reported excess school supplies at the end of the year.
A majority felt that students are asked to buy more supplies than needed.
7 Tips for Making Back to School Shopping More Sustainable and Affordable
Maybe its time we listened to our gut. Time we at least try to shut out the noise. Here are a few tips for making back to school more sustainable and less expensive.
Shop within your home first. See what you already have and use that!
Buy second hand; electronics, binders, backpacks, pens and pencils. Check out Get Repowered for used electronics. They all come with a warranty and they literally have everything!
Check out your local thrift store for backpacks and lunch boxes or check your local free website or Facebook marketplace for things like calculators, binders etc.
Wait to buy. Anything you need can be shipped to your home in 24 hours so if you discover that you need something you thought your child could live without, order it then.
This is a good one! Pawn shops have become a great new source for second hand electronics etc. as reported by CNN. Pawn shops can be one-stop shops for many back-to-school items: Sneakers, laptops, musical instruments, and mini-refrigerators for college dorms. They’re all sold in one place, and at a fraction of the cost of the major retailers.
Go online and check out Facebook Marketplace. It’s all there! Its so inexpensive.
Oh and if you can’t resist buying everything new at the very least donate all of last year’s stuff to a thrift store or a charity so kids with fewer resources can make use of them.
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Back to school shopping doesn’t have to be wasteful. By taking stock of what’s already at home, reusing where possible, and making thoughtful purchases when necessary, families can save money while supporting a sustainable back to school season. The pencils, notebooks, and backpacks may seem small, but the choices we make each fall add up. With a little intention, parents can reduce school supply waste and set an example of conscious consumerism for their kids. This year, back to school can be about more than just supplies—it can be about teaching children that sustainability and simplicity go hand in hand.
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