It’s back to school time and I’m one of those people who absolutely loves to shop for school supplies. Just walking into a Staples gives me warm fuzzies. I used to look forward to going shopping with my mom each year to pick out the items I needed using the list the school sent. I always wanted a few extras too. (Like a ministapler and a basic hole punch. Yes, I was a bit of a nerd.)
But since I’ve been slowly trying to make better purchasing choices, buying school supplies has gotten harder. How on earth do I know which items are produced ethically and are there even any ethical choices?
The short answer is, it isn’t easy. It’s not a case of always making ideal choices, so much as better choices.
We are homeschoolers, which means that aside from a few things we need of our co-op, I have complete control over the supplies I purchase. I realize that most parents get a list from their schools sometimes with very specific requirements down to size and brand name. This doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Just replacing a few of your items with better alternatives can make a difference.
The reasons I prefer products from the United States and major Europeans nations is that most have decent labor laws. This doesn’t mean the companies themselves are necessarily inherently better, but by nature of the location of the manufacturing facilities, I feel better about purchasing these brands.
I know many teachers rave about Ticonderoga. Here’s the thing though, they aren’t made in the United States anymore. But these USA Gold pencils by Write Dudes are!
While Space pens are made in the United States and really cool, they are also really expensive. But if you read your labels carefully I’ve found some BIC pens that are made in France. Again, I know this doesn’t guarantee fair production practices on every level, but it does give me a little more confidence.
Five Star has a few notebooks that are still made in the United States, though not all of their products are so you have to watch their labels.
This is incredibly hard. Almost all the glue I could find, came from China. So on this one I suggest you either just bite the bullet or opt for Tacky Glue instead which is made in the United States. This is an example of where sometimes we just have to make the purchase and hope for the best until supply chains become more clear.
Erasers are another really difficult item to find made anywhere but China. But Staedtler-Mars brand is made in Germany (sometimes the paper sleeve is made in China, but I’ll take it).
Scotch tape is still made the United States! However, they do globally source their materials so we can’t know as much as we’d like about every step of their supply chain. But at least we know the domestic labor is held to the legal requirements.
Crayola is still my primary go-to. Now, you have to read your labels because Crayola does do quite a bit of overseas manufacturing. But there area few items you can purchase with relative confidence.
Watercolors: Paints made in the United States, though the brush is manufactured in China.
Construction Paper: Made In Canada
Markers: ColorMax made in the United States
Crayons: Made in the United States
While I haven’t seen them in person, these composition books from Norcom claim to be made in the United States! This is an item that I was excited to find online because there wasn’t anything similar to be found in stores. (If you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you shouldn’t have trouble getting them in time for the first day of school).
While they probably don’t meet most school list requirements Decomposition Notebooks are lots of fun too.
Back to school time is already very stressful, and my intention is not to make things more difficult, but rather show you how a few simple changes to your shopping list can make a difference.
We can let it be known that we care about where and how our things are made by how we spend our money. Click To Tweet
This is something I would never have thought about. I am recently trying to convert my purchases whenever I can to be more ethically sound, but to be honest I never thought about the production of school and office supplies. Thanks for this post! I found it very helpful
That’s a big part of why I wrote it! When I tried looking for articles on ethical school supplies there was hardly anything, or the posts focused exclusively on eco-friendly supplies. I wanted parents and students to know they have options.