Backpacks are a must for trekking or riding across campus to college classes, and as more teens are turning eco-conscious, sustainable school supplies are in demand. Go green when you go back to school with one of our favorite eco-friendly backpacks.

Quiksilver Organic Republic Backpack: A not-so-crunchy organic treat from skater and surfer favorite Quiksilver. This bag is made from 100% organic cotton, which means no pesticides were used to create this bag. You’ll find lots of pockets for organizing your school stuff and straps to carry your skateboard into class.

Keen Goose Hollow Backpack: A sleek and modern pack made from recycled polyester, you can feel good knowing fewer new materials had to be made to build this bag. Little details make it work like a cell phone pocket in the shoulder strap and durable ripstop fabric to ensure you won’t get holes no matter how your treat it.

Osprey Packs Circuit Backpack: A part of Osprey’s sustainable Resource line, this bag boasts over 70% recycled materials. For gadget freaks, this bag is the best. You’ll find tons of compartments to hold all your stuff, like a semi-firm laptop sleeve and a music pouch for your iPod.

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When you go camping and gaze up at the stars before you drift to sleep, do you ever think about what makes up your sleeping bag? Next time, buy one of these eco-friendly sleeping bags made from recycled materials and natural fibers.

Sierra Designs Lazer 30 Sleeping Bag: This ultralight sleeping bag won’t weigh you down at 2 lbs and it won’t leave you to hot in the summer either thanks to a vent at the foot of the bag. The insulation inside gives it an eco edge–it’s recycled.

Big Agnes Lost Dog Sleeping Bag: Like to be comfy even when you’re snoozing on the ground? This bag has a special pocket to hold your camping pillow. The soft PirmaLoft Eco insulation is made from recycled plastic bottles. Click here to read more

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If you’re a runner and you’re not in the midst of training for a marathon, chances are you have a 5K or 10K next weekend, right? During the summer running season you can never have too many tees and shorts. Since you’re always sweating in them, they go through a lot of wear and tear and could end up getting ditched after only a few months.

So choose recycled workout wear so you don’t feel bad if yours end up being disposable. Start with a Patagonia Capilene T-Shirt. Capilene is a green fabric, it’s just a fancy term for recycled polyester, that’s breathable and moisture-wicking–percet for hot and humid summer runs.

Next go for Patagonia Men’s Long Haul Runners, which are made from 50% recycled polyester. They’re a great style for distance runners because they’re made to reduce the uncomfortable chafe factor and they have an eco-friendly Capilene liner that’s moisture-wicking.

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Eco-friendly fabrics and design haven’t widely made their way into the swimwear world yet–especially in the Spandex-centric women and girls department–but a few green offerings are starting to crop up on the male side. Suit up your toddler in sustainable surfer style with O’Neill’s Leviathan Boardshort.

These swim shorts are made from a blend of traditional and recycled polyester fabric. In general, polyester is far from being an eco-friendly fabric. The synthetic fiber is made using coal and petroleum. But as we said before, eco-friendly swimwear is hard to come by, so we’re happy to see the use of recycled polyester in O’Neill’s line. Click here to read more

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Don’t dig polyester because it seems too plastic-y? That may be just the reason you should choose it. Sears has announced that this spring they’ll be selling men’s suits made from recycled polyester with a little help from Teijin Fibers Limited.

Before visions of bad polyester suits from the 70s pop in your head, you should know that the suits will only be a little over 50% recycled polyester, with wool constituting the rest of the apparel. The suits will look much like other suits available in Sears stores, sell for a comparable price of a little over $200, and will be machine washable and dryable. The difference is that about 25 two-liter plastic bottles will be kept out of landfills for each suit sold. Not a bad selling point when you won’t be sacrificing anything in the apparel itself.

The picture above illustrates how the plastic bottles will go from waste to wonder fiber, which will be blended with the wool to create the suits themselves. Teijin Fibers Limited, who will be making the recycled polyester material, already work with a company famed for its eco-friendly innovation; they helped Patagonia launch its Common Threads Recycling Program a few years ago. By finding a way to recycle the materials from long underwear into new garments, Teijin and Patagonia were able to create products that used 76 percent less energy and released 42 percent less carbon dioxide. A pretty big accomplishment in our eyes. Click here to read more

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