How to Choose a Sustainable Bag for Students

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When it’s time to go to school, be it a university or a college, having a big bag that can carry all your notes, a laptop, and a water bottle is crucial. What’s even more important, it must be convenient – not too big or too small, and of course, you need to like it. Having this many criteria makes finding the perfect bag hard. But wait, you wouldn’t want to support a company that takes part in the deterioration of our planet, right? Now the search is even more complicated. Don’t worry; we’ve worked out a list of tips to choose the perfect bag and brands that sell them.

What makes a good bag?

For most students, the measure of a bag being good is that it fits everything needed for classes and looks good. It all comes down to your preference, personal style, and demands. Still, let’s discover all of the aspects that make a bag good.

Size

Choose a bag that can carry all of the stuff necessary for your classes. The first thing to cover is a laptop. To be perfectly secure, it needs a separate padded pocket. If you need to carry a tablet with you, it’s best to have a separate place to store it too. If you use large-sized textbooks, you’ll need something bigger. If most of your studying is done on a gadget from which you Google “thesis writing service,” – a petite bag will be perfect for you.

Type

Bags come in hundreds of different kinds. So, it can be hard to know what you like right away. Do you need a duffel-type bag to throw in everything and forget, or something more structured like a satchel? There’s also a more trendy tote bag that can hold more stuff than you can imagine. You can also go the more traditional route and choose a backpack – your back will definitely say thank you – but it’s hard to find a cute one that can carry everything you need.

Color and material

Material is where most of the bag’s price comes from. The standard quality bag was always a leather one. The times changed, however. With the rise of consumerism rose the number of bags produced every year. And it came at the price of degrading climate, poor animal holding conditions, and burning fossil fuels. Now, we aim to shop sustainably. The material you should go for is a type of vegan leather or durable cloth. This will be your contribution to the betterment of the environment.

How to make sure the product is sustainable?

Checking if everything you buy is sustainable might get tiring. But, since the cause is good, this effort is the least all of us can do. Here are 4 main ways you can get a sustainable bag.

Synthetic materials

What’s usually called vegan leather is a type of plastic developed to look like leather. Polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are the most widespread solutions brands use. You can also find bags made exclusively from recycled plastic. Of course, it’s cleaned and treated first.

Natural materials

If you want to go all-natural, there are bags that are made from pineapple leaves, cork, apple peels, wicker, or even water-repellent paper. These kinds of bags will definitely stand out from the crowd if it’s your goal.

Responsibly-sourced leather

If you’re keen on finding a leather bag specifically, there’s good news for you. You can find sustainably-oriented brands that use ethically sourced and produced materials. The cost of this kind of bag will be rather high. But if you’re not buying this kind of bag once for a long-time use, it’s better not to buy it at all.

Thrift!

What can be more sustainable than not buying something new? The short answer is nothing. Here’s the longer one. Thrifting emerged as a trend relatively long ago, but many people still don’t understand that one of the main perks of buying something second-hand is giving a piece another chance of being useful instead of ending up in a landfill.

Best brands to shop from

Cuyana
Stella McCartney
Wicker Wings
Edun
AAKS
Baggu

Is vegan leather really more sustainable than real leather?

It has been proven that vegan leather has a less deteriorating impact on the environment. Still, since in most cases, vegan leather equals plastic, there are no positive changes. Some would argue that having less of an effect is already a positive outcome. Students can get the idea that they can’t really change the situation or impact it in any way. Ultimately, what do they do? They study, look for the best paper writing services, and buy clothes. Yet, buying responsibly is one of the little steps in the direction of a better future.

How to Choose a Sustainable Bag for Students