Happy Summer, everyone!
We’ve all been enjoying sleeping in later and the longer days of summer sunshine – have you?
If you’re a mom like me, you’ve already started thinking about getting the kids ready to head back to school.
There are just a few weeks left of summer break where we live, so I recently embarked on the hunt for backpacks that are sweatshop-free and won’t break the bank. Specifically, I wanted something that would cost less than $50.
It was quite a hunt to find something that would work, so I thought I’d share what I found here in hopes that it will help someone else who’d like to buy a more socially responsible backpack.
Here are some of the more kid-friendly (specifically girl-friendly) options that I found and my girls approved (not in any particular order):
Patagonia Poco kids backpack, $49.
Patagonia Poco Backpack (Photo: patagonia.com)
This one comes in a variety of color combinations, and met my girls approval. Did you know that Patagonia continually gets very high ratings from groups like Better World Shopper and GoodGuide? They make a sincere effort to have supply chain transparency and treat their workers ethically. You can read more about that here. This particular item is made in Vietnam.
Patagonia also has a slightly larger Poco Mas backpack with similar color options for $59. (More than $50, but still somewhat affordable.)
Patagonia Poco Mas Backpack (Photo: patagonia.com)
A friend of mine suggest we check out Soul Flower, which sells bohemian, ec0-friendly goods. Many of their products are made from organic cotton or hemp, and are fair trade.
Here are some of Soul Flower’s cute, affordable backpacks:
Dandelion Wine Backpack $45 – Cute patchwork-style fabric bag that is fair trade, made in India.
Soul Flower Dandelion Wine Backpack (Photo: soul-flower.com)
Positive Energy Sports Backpack $42 – This one is more sporty, and is also fair trade.
Soul Flower Positive Energy Sports Backpack (Photo: soul-flower.com)
Aerial Patchwork Backpack $32 – This one is one of my favorites – I love the colors. Each one is unique, though, so the actual product may vary from the photo.
Soul Flower Aerial Patchwork Backpack (Photo: soul-flower.com)
I also discovered Earth Divas while backpack shopping. Earth Divas is a fair trade made store with 100% of the profits paid to the artisans that craft the items. They had several backpack options we liked:
Razor Cut Patchwork Cotton Backpack $29.99 – This one is fair trade made in Nepal by a women’s co-op.
Earth Divas Razor Cut Patchwork Cotton Backpack (Photo: earthdivas.com)
Earth Divas Maroon Stonewash Cotton Backpack $29.99 – I like this one’s color and the pleated bottom with buttons across the middle.
Maroon Stonewash (Photo: earthdivas.com)
Black Stonewash Cotton Backpack with Flowers $29.99 – This one has an adorable embroidered flower design
Black Stonewash Flowers (Photo: earthdivas.com)
I thought Etsy would be another good option. A search for “handmade backpacks” on Etsy was a bit misleading, though. A lot of the bags for sale there are imported from China with no information on their production. The sellers are just adding monograms to the imported bags, so be a little more careful if you decide to shop for bags there. You can always ask the seller for more information on the items.
I also found an Etsy seller called Thai Handbags that sells fair trade bags made by the Hmong tribes in northern Thailand. According to the seller’s description, the sale of the bags helps the farmers make a livelihood from handicrafts rather than opium farming.
These bags are really beautiful and the prices are great!
Candy Birds Backpack $19.99
Thai Handbags Candy Birds (Photo: Thai Handbags)
Handmade Flowered Backpack $19.99 – I absolutely love the colors and the floral pattern on this one. The embroidery detail is beautiful and I adore the colors!
Handmade flowered backpack (Photo: Thai Handbags)
Topanien is another site that I found with several options of nice fair trade hemp backpacks:
Hemp & Recycle Rice Bag Backpack $39.99 – My daughter’s were especially fond of this one, as they love anything with peace signs!
Hemp/Recycle Rice Bag backpack (Photo: topanien.com)
The bags my daughters ultimately chose for the upcoming school year are the Razor Cut Patchwork bag from Earth Divas and the Positive Energy Sports backpack from Soul Flower. I’ll add some photos of the girls with their bags once they arrive.
I hope these ethically made backpacks will help you on your search. I would love to hear about any other options that you’ve found or if you try any of these backpacks!
(For more on why making an effort to be sweatshop-free and buying ethically matters, check out this post , this post and this post.)
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Update: Here are my two cuties with their backpacks on the first day of school. How is it possible that my youngest is in Kindergarten?
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