So you’re enjoying summer, toes in the sand and your head in a really great book, when your mind is suddenly bombarded with panicked thoughts of sending the kids back to school. As in going back TO SCHOOL. In person. With all their...stuff.Obviously the shopping that you likely avoided last year is looming larger, and the exhaustive lists of supplies have been sent out from teachers. Your head is feeling a little hazy, and it ain’t the sun rays on the beach that are to blame. 

Yes, it’s a daunting task, with the average family planning spending $848 on school supplies like notebooks, backpacks and the rest of the long list sent out by the teacher. Nationwide, that totals $37.1 billion, and that’s just for K-12 students according to the National Retail Federation. Of course, the lion’s share of that number is in the purchase of electronics and computer-related equipment. All of that is enough to make you drop your umbrella drink in the sand.

Of course we’ll have something to say about saving a ton of money with refurbished computers to help stretch your dollar in the tech department. In the meantime, we’d also like to share some ideas of how to make your back to school shopping less painful on the wallet, less painful on the environment, and even achieving both at the same time.

Saving some green

Especially if you have more than one student returning to the classroom, they can still have their class supply lists completed without having your wallet depleted.

• Think ahead: many retailers offer ridiculously low prices on items that will likely need to be replenished throughout the year, especially notebooks and paper. While you don’t want to dedicate a room to stocking up, do consider buying a few extra notebooks for just a quarter a piece before they return to a regular price that’s likely five times the cost.
• Be thrifty: While you don’t want to buy a tattered backpack from 10 years ago from a rummage sale, when it comes to thrift store shopping, you can really hit on some excellent bargains on supplies like backpacks and designer brand clothes that will send your kids back to school in style.
• Understand the difference between cheap and valuable: in other words, it may be less money, but if it looks like it’s going to break before your kid gets off the bus, take a little more time in comparing value and cost. There are always other areas to save money (see previous bullet point).
• Review, reuse: We all have stuff. Generally lots of it. Whatever supplies that are on the list for school rarely require them to be still in their original package. Chances are pretty good, then, that you can find paper, notebooks, folders, pens, pencils, markers and crayons that will still work just fine to start the year off right.
• Ditto for electronics: it’s worth the investment in time to determine how you can meet the tech needs of your students for far less than the cost of new. If your laptop has gotten slower, seek out a reputable repair professional to assess the issues before you buy a new computer, which can save you hundreds of dollars.

To underscore the point, Revive IT Retail Store Manager Ken Thompson said, “Many people we see here with major issues on their newer units don’t realize that replacing a motherboard can be an option, which is about half the cost of a new computer.”

“And for those with older devices -- some are 8, 9 years old -- or devices that just can’t be fixed, they are surprised how much less even having a 3-year-old refurbished computer can cost them from new, and that they can work just as well as new,” Thompson added.

Serving some green

As you go through your house looking for ways to save money, you’ll likely come to realize how much we generally waste money, and resources. As a company that features refurbished computers, our core mission is to be responsible for our environment in the process. Whether it’s through repurposing or reusing, here are some options for environmentally friendly supplies, many of which don’t cost much more than their mainstream counterparts.

• Backpacks from recycled materials: namely, Ecogear makes a line of packs that are budget-competitive, with prices starting under $30
• De-composition notebooks: while the brand name of Decomposition features a little pricier line of forest-friendly options, ($10 each), try a search using eco friendly notebooks, which will give you a better range of cost, many of which are familiar names like Mead, using a higher percentage of recycled materials.
• Pencil this in, too: Ticonderoga, which has been in the pencil business for about as long as the US has been a country, has a very affordable option in their Enviro-Stiks. A 12-pack is just $4, and the wood comes from FSC certified, responsibly-managed forests. They also carry a brand called Renew, made from recycled wood scraps.
• Recycled materials into pens: Some of our favorites -- recycled water bottles, cardboard, even newspapers (The last one can even be a DIY project with the kids!). A search of “pens made from recycled materials” yields a wide and really creative selection of pens to make your mark in a new school year. Our suggestion: pool together with other parents to buy in larger quantities to find the best deals.
• Refurbished computers - yep, also very green! Every year, tons of entirely recyclable and reusable materials end up in landfills where there really is no decomposition to enrich the earth. If you really need to purchase an additional desktop, laptop or hand held device, explore the options that purchasing refurbished has for any member of your family. Just one laptop reclaimed can save 36.35 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, and save nearly 4 pounds of metals from being thrown away.

So, rise from your beach chair, stretch, and get started on a new school year for the young and young at heart... smarter, savvier and more sustainable.