BACK-TO-SCHOOL: TASTYBABY'S GUIDE TO  GOING "GREEN" AND STAYING STYLISH

Tastybaby knows how important it is for your kids to have "cool" back-to-school supplies but you don't have to kill the environment to do so!  Here we've compiled a list of fun and stylish, eco-friendly back-to-school items from solar-powered backpacks to soy crayons.  We're sure there's something on this list for all your back-to-school needs.

Also, check out a great site where kids can connect with like-minded folks from around the world: I Buy Different. Getting your tiny people involved, and seeing that other kids are really getting into cloth lunch boxes, recycling and even “vintage” (read: used) gear is an excellent motivator.

• Earth Paks – These super cool and high-quality backpacks are made from 98% recycled materials, including recycled soda bottles. They offer brightly colored fashionable backpacks are not only stylish and eye-catching but they are fully functional and great for the environment.

• Juice Bags - Brightly colored and endlessly versatile, these bags pack 6.3 watts of power which, according to the manufacturer, can recharge your devices in about the same amount of time as a wall socket. The solar panels are waterproof, flexible and, unlike other solar bags, can be removed for remote use. Juice Bags fabric is made from recycled 2-liter soda bottles, which create a strong, water-resistant surface. The bags operate using a universal socket known as a CLA (car lighter adapter). Simply plug into the CLA the adapter you would normally use in a car for a particular device and start soaking up solar power.

• Hemp-Sisters - Bamboo is the trendy green material of the moment -- it certainly gets the lion's share of eco-chic street cred. Meanwhile, good old-fashioned hemp has gotten a bit of a fusty reputation: It's the material people bring up when they want to poke fun at greenies, as in, "You bought a hybrid? What next, are you going to start wearing nothing but hemp shoes and burlap sacks?" But these cute multi-colored backpacks by Hemp Sisters are bringing back hemp's good name -- they're lightweight and durable, made of natural fibers and hand-crafted by fair trade women's co-operatives in Kathmandu, Nepal. Bamboo may be au courant, but hemp is old-school.

• EcoBags – This companies lunch bags are reusable and washer-machine friendly. They offer an assortment of recycled, organic, canvas and cotton lunch sacks that are a great alternative to vinyl lunch bags. If you want to “dump the frump” they have some adorable and brightly colored lunch packs for kids. We personally love the Cool Totes Frog Print (also available in Cats too!)

• Sigg – Ditch those toxic plastic water bottles and go with an environmentally responsible alternative.  Like all SIGG bottles, the Kids bottles are tested to be 100-percent safe with NO leaching. These Kids bottles are durable, leak-proof, and suitable for all beverages juices, energy drinks and more. SIGG Kids bottles are non-toxic and dishwasher safe. With so many styles to choose from, staying hydrated has never been so much fun!

• World Centric – Rather than sending your kids off to school with your nice silverware (never to be seen again), replace plastic forks and spoons with biodegradable cutlery. World Centric offers a line of biodegradable utensils which are made from 80% non-GMO corn starch and 20% other biodegradable fillers and can handle hot foods and liquids up to about 190-200 degrees F.   The biodegradable cutlery is now also packaged in biodegradable packaging made from corn starch , which is compostable as well.  Now you can compost the packing together with the utensils.  These are also perfect for picnics, camping and trips to the beach! 

• Wrap-n-Mat – Reduce the amount of junk in your kids' lunchbox, with this great re-usable alternative to plastic bags. Wrap-n-mats are designed to fold up neatly around sandwiches and close securely -- which, as any kid who has ever suffered the indignity of a sloppy sandwich spill can testify, is important. Plus, the mats are machine-washable, and unfold to create a clean, compact eating surface wherever you need one... like in the cafeteria. Do those tables really get wiped down between lunch periods? On second thought, maybe you don't want to know.

• Bazura Shop - This bright, beautiful, one-of-a-kind pencil case was produced by Bazura Shop, a women's co-operative in the Phillippines that fashions nifty bags and totes from recycled and re-used materials -- in this case, recycled foil juice packs collected through networking with kids in local schools. The juice packs could have ended up wasting away in landfills for thousands of years; instead, they've been cleverly refashioned to create a super-cool pencil bag, destined to spend its days in another kind of dumping ground: Your child's school bag. What goes around comes around.

• GreenLine - Some people won’t even wear the same pair of jeans twice. Fortunately, there's GreenLine desk supplies to help make up for their excess. Their pencils and rulers are made from recycled denim and old money (why are we so tempted to call them "Paris pencils"?). GreenLine also reuses shipping cartons, and does not use plastics or foam packaging.

• Office Depot - Bananas: They're not just for topping breakfast cereal anymore. Eco-smart kids will love Costa Rica Natural banana paper recycled notebooks, made from 100% post-consumer recycled materials. The sturdy, funky covers enclose 70 sheets of "treeless" paper made from the discarded stalks of banana trees (or pinzotes), which would otherwise have gone to waste. Recycled notebooks: Cool. Recycled notes... well, now, that's called cheating.

• Green Home – This company offers a veritable platter of environmentally friendly products.  When it comes to supplying your needs for any back to school project, we personally like their recycled construction paper which comes in every color under the sun (spectrum). This heavyweight, acid-free construction paper, made by Riverside, is 90% recycled with 10% post consumer content. Get your scissors and glue out and have a ball!

• Frog File – Crayons for your kids or the kid in you! Prang soybean crayons are made from soybean oil. They are brighter, lipstick smooth, and flake less than ordinary wax crayons. Blend them together for an even more extensive color palette! These patented soybean crayons are a pleasure to work with and fun too! AP certified non-toxic.