Back-to-School and the Environment

Ishani Agrawal, 11th grade

8/4/2026

As the 2026-2027 school year is rapidly approaching, school supplies are flying off the shelves. Around this time of year, about $38.8 billion worth of back-to-school supplies are newly purchased annually. This money is spent on notebooks, folders, pencils, binders, and more—all products made from wood and paper products or plastic. Additionally, households budget hundreds of dollars to buy new electronics, clothes, and gear to prepare.

Unfortunately, it is estimated that an alarming 77% of the newly purchased supplies are not used. This means that thousands of pounds of paper and plastic are wasted every year on new school supplies. Thus, not only are these supplies left unused, but since many are made of non-biodegradable materials, these products end up in landfills, harming the surrounding environment. Plastic goods take hundreds of years to break down, and the plastic molecules can contaminate the soil and plants.

Even before reaching the shelves, the manufacturing process of many of these products is far from environmentally conscious. Factories making lunchboxes and other supplies produce tons of greenhouse gases annually, contributing to global warming and general rising temperatures. Additionally, deforestation practices to create new notebooks and loose-leaf paper devastates native flora and fauna while using fossil fuel powered vehicles.

While many of the proposed solutions to this waste are beneficial, they can often be hard to implement. For example, encouraging students to use more technology to take notes is not always a worthwhile solution. Many schools require students to take handwritten notes to avoid increased technology usage, therefore necessitating notebook and pencil purchases. Furthermore, reusing items from the previous year, such as backpacks and lunchboxes can also be challenging if the product is ripped or simply insufficient for the next year.

Despite all of the challenges, it is important to do what you can. If limiting notebook use isn’t possible, try to reuse notebooks or only buy the needed amount. Use all notebook pages, even if it is only as scrap paper. Try to carry items to the next year, and if this isn’t feasible, donate them or participate in a community swap. Instead of buying fast fashion back-to-school clothes, try to find more sustainable and long-term items.

When it comes to back-to-school season, every small step matters. By implementing even one of the above solutions, our planet will be positively impacted.