Stylish (& Eco-Friendly) Stationery To Give You That Back-To-School Feeling

When we were kids, our knowledge of the environment was limited, to say the least. The sheer size of the Earth, the fact that the ocean even existed, was enough to knock a 7-year-old sideways. I was introduced to the idea that humans could be bad for the planet at school, when we were encouraged to switch the lights off before going out at break time. Diligently, I became the 'light-switcher-off-er', feeling that in the dark, my work for the planet was done.

Things are much less straightforward nowadays. We know what the housing market is and how it's doing (bad); we have debt and have to book our own dentist appointments (gross); we've spent the past 18 months doing our best to get through a global pandemic no less; and caring about the environment is less of a cute hobby and more of a crushingly urgent concern that's enough to give anyone anxiety palpitations. The world is very stressful and often I desperately want to return to a simpler time when all I cared about was showing off my new Groovy Chick pencil case and switching off the lights when told.

Those eco-ignorant days may be long over but that doesn't mean the simple joys of our schooldays should be lost to us. This is particularly poignant now, when many are properly ending Working From Home in September and returning to the office. The delights of new stationery elicit a very particular nerdy buzz in me that I'm not willing to give up, despite working almost solely on a computer. So ahead we've listed 11 stylish pieces of stationery that will give you that back-to-school thrill, without any of the eco/consumer guilt. Everything here is either recycled or made with eco-friendly materials – which feels even better than flicking that light switch...