Back to school Plastic free edition
Homeschool, public and private school friendly
Jul 13, 2026
For many families August signals an end to long summer days and watermelon stained dresses. A crunch time for back to school deals and preparation for the school year ahead. Homeschool mama’s you’re not forgotten here. Though it’s easier to avoid plastic when teaching at home…it’s not always that intuitive. Here are my tips and swaps for a seamless plastic free year of learning for your bigs and littles learning in schools or learning at home.
Common School supplies
Safety scissors wipes
Glue sandwich baggies
Pencils packed lunch
Pens hand sanitizer Notebooks
Before being blessed with our son. I taught second grade in a private Catholic school. I absolutely loved it, and I curated this list from that experience. A teacher friendly view as well as from a mama who plans to homeschool my own children.
Order from Klein directly or shop on Amazon here
- Bamboo, rubber, and plant-based corn plastic
- Plastic free packaging and shipping
- Retractable
- 1mm tip
- Soy-based ink
Organic, non toxic glue from Tessa Bunny
I love notebooks, always have. Writing has been a passion of mine since childhood.
My grandma still has composition notebooks that I would fill phonetically before I knew how to write properly. No spaces, no punctuation, no conventions. Just pure thought.
If you like writing as much as I do. Try these sustainability friendly notebooks!
Try decomposition books
They have regular school work and sketchbooks They also have my favorite sustainable cedar pencils!
Shop Here https://decomposition.com/collections/recycled-notebooks
Dry erase /markers
These might be for the older kids. A few of my second graders could have handles these but for the most part I would say 3rd and above but these refillable markers are a great way to reduce in the classroom!
Shop here
DIY corner for my crunchy crew
I am not a fan of harsh chemical desk cleaners. What I suggest is this instead
A small glass spray bottle. It’s not feasible to get around the plastic top but the good fill amber glass is a good option for securing liquid in a kids desk.
Just label the jar and speak to the teacher first. Add ¼ vinegar, a few drops of real lemon oil and water and you’ve got a powerful non-toxic cleaning spray that your kids can use on their own desk each day. Should last a month at a time.
Natural hand sanitizer
Best container I could find was this amazon silicone squeeze bottle. It also has a plastic lid but the product is Bisphenol A (BPA) Free, Lead Free, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Free
Shop here
Mix organic Aloe vera with your favorite essential oils like ( frankincense, thieves, lemon, Calendula , Lavender, Chamomile or all of them together) For older kids tea tree can be a great antiviral but it can be strong if rubbed in the eyes. add Water until it’s sprayable and voila!
Use these little squeezes for packed lunch too. Versatility is the name of the game
So packing lunch. Why do it? Well if you’ve ever been a kid, or a teacher in a school you know that lunch quality is not an American priority. While French children eat arugula salads with fresh Cucumber and tomato before a main course of Veal marinated in mushrooms and broccoli…read more here
American children eat chicken nuggets with corn and mashed potatos, Ice berg lettuce with more ranch than water content, and canned fruit in syrup. Top it off with juice or chocolate milk and you have a gastro intestinal party rockin by11 in the morning.
Always do what you can on your budget of course, we are not here to judge. Packing anything homemade may just be better than any American Hot lunch.
Two simple ways to pack it
- Paper eco baggies which you can shop in our Low Tox Shop
2.Bento silicone , Glass, or metal containers.
There are so many options out there.
The lids of the glass containers will be plastic but something about silicone still doesn’t sit right with me.
Pro tips When putting hot food into the container. Let it cool as much as is safe without the lid and always leave a gap between the lid and the food.
*If your child will be microwaving their food which no.. naturally I do not suggest for nutrient density reasons…just have them take the lid off of their glass containers and only pack no reheat items in silicone and metal.
Teacher brain: Remind your tiny person no metal in the microwave. We know it as adults but sometimes the littles forget and there isn’t always a supervised re-heat station in the cafeteria.
At the little fix we want things to be as simple as possible. This is not an exhaustive list. Rather the basics to get you going. None of these options are terribly cost prohibitive for the impact they will make on your families toxin exposure and your impact on this beautiful planet God gave us.
Look out for my next blog post before you go back to school clothes shopping!
Where I will drop my Slow fashion guide to avoiding fast fashion, supporting ethical sourcing and finding safer alternative fabrics.
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