Back to school shopping — or even just shopping for office supplies — can be stressful for environmentalists, what with staring at rows and rows of uneco vinyl folders and picking up one after another notebook to check for post-consumer recycled content. That, plus the fact that many neighborhoods don’t have local, independent office supply stores that meet all school supplies needs, means fighting crowds at big box stores.
Now, a single green school supplies kit can save you a trip — or multiple gas guzzling trips. Sustainable Group’s Back to School Kit boasts some of the greenest stuff on the market that’ll fully prep you or other students in your family for the fall semester. That means no vinyl, no plastic, and no end-of semester landfilling. Here’s what the kit contains:
- A 1.5” ReBinder recycled 3 ring binder, with 2 replacement covers and a half dozen each pocket dividers. We’re talking durable cardboard folders not just made with high post-consumer recycled content — but also fully recyclable and reusable with new replacement covers!
- 6 RePocket 2-pocket folders. These handy folders are made from 100% recycled, FSC-ertified chipboard with 85% post-consumer recycled content.
- 6 ReWrite notebooks in a couple different sizes. The bending chipboard covers are made with 100% recycled and FSC-certified fibers; the inner pages are made with 100% post-consumer recycled, FSC-certified paper.
- 3 ReMark eco-pens The pens look like plastic but are made with organic cotton and plant resins from sustainably managed forests — and can be sent back to Sustainable Group for recycling!
- 6 ReSleeve recycled CD sleeves and 3 RePlay recycled CD cases. These replacements for those plasticky CD jewel cases are made with recycled and recyclable cardboard, of course.
Want a kit for yourself? The kit costs $44.99 — and includes free shipping!
Photo courtesy Sustainable Group
Update: According to a blog called Lighter Footstep, this kit’s a ripoff. Here’s why I disagree.
Almost makes me wish i was still in school! Wait, I take that back – it will be great for my home office too. (I don’t want to go back to school!)
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Comment by tyna — July 18, 2009 @ 2:20 pm
Chris Baskind has another idea about these (http://lighterfootstep.com/2009/07/5-ways-to-green-back-to-school-and-its-not-this-eco-supply-kit/) but I like that they are not PVC and won’t leach phthalates, unlike used vinyl binders.
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Comment by Beth Terry, aka Fake Plastic Fish — July 19, 2009 @ 1:41 pm
I think the ideal solution to the problem of unsustainable school supply is to get the schools to change their requirements for supplies. All this stuff is for the purposes of recording, storing and transporting information. I do that every day without the aid of a three ring binder.
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Comment by Martin — July 19, 2009 @ 2:15 pm
Beth — I’d seen Chris’ post — and thought it was really misinformed. Yes, there are products with some recycled content in major stores, and yes, there are products that are much cheaper in major stores. These are usually not the same products! Products that are cheaper AND have decent recycled content? Those are tough to find.
I think the guy needs to actually walk into a Staples or Office Depot and look at what the selection actually is — both the reality of the prices and the eco-friendly content. Staples’ Eco Easy notebooks cost $2.49 a pop — not any less than the Sustainable Group stuff. The rest of the stuff at Staples? Most of it’s got little to no recycled content — and almost all don’t have significant post-consumer recycled content.
His assertion that Sustainable Group’s somehow ripping people off while offering products similar to big box stores is extremely misleading. Cheapo products at big box stores come at a high enviro cost and to suggest that people are somehow gullible chumps for choosing not to buy into the race to the bottom’s antithetical to the environmental movement altogether.
Of course I like the suggestion to buy what you can used — but for when I actually need a new notebook, I won’t be looking at the 99 cent bins at Wal-Mart.
Comment by Siel — July 19, 2009 @ 2:42 pm
Admit it, this is marketed to people who want to look cute and be green. Most of the people who buy this already have a laptop, an iphone, etc, something that can do all of this without buying anything new. maybe i was just a bad student, but I still have blank notebooks from high school that i can fish out of the garage if i feel the need to take notes on paper . . . . . thats so 1983.
Comment by Taylor — July 24, 2009 @ 10:33 am
I actually still go through a lot of paper journals — I find actual writing with paper & pen pretty different from typing things up. But like you, I don’t use a whole lot of other office supplies. I’ve had the same folders / binders for years, and give away the new stuff that may come my way.
Comment by Siel — July 24, 2009 @ 12:33 pm