Your Requisite Gadgets and Gear, with a Green Touch

By John DeFore

A big part of back-to-school shopping, from the student’s perspective, is putting

your own little stamp on all the pedestrian essentials that everyone around you owns as well. Back in grade school, that meant getting the perfect movie tie-in lunch box. While we’re not sure how anybody could outgrow their Wookie or Batman lunch pail, those who have — or who just don’t want to lug a tin or plastic box around all day — should consider something like this lead-free, recycled and insulated lunch bag ($9.95, pictured) that will easily squash up into your backpack after you’ve eaten its contents. And to go with that food container? How about a portable kit of bamboo utensils ($7.50 to $19.95) and a water bottle ($22) that wears its ecology-friendly status on its sleeve?

As you move up in school, individuality demands the perfect book tote. The treehugging shoemakers at Simple make good-looking shoulder bags like the Combover ($85), which uses recycled plastic in the spots where canvas just won’t work, and the Overdue ($55), a felty little number that’s green in a handful of ways.

Backpacks distribute weight more evenly, though, which is especially important if you’re lugging a laptop around with all those text books. From streamlined numbers like this one from Belkin ($50) to near-military sized gear from Targus ($70) — with mod middle ground covered by items like this ($55) — you can size the bag to the frame of the scholar carrying it. (Some will even convert from backpack to messenger-style on the fly.)

There’s no shortage of eco-conscious school supplies to cram in those bags this season, from pens made of reclaimed wood (using non-toxic ink, of course) or rubber tires ($10.80 for a 24-pack) and pencils ($1 per 12-pack) made from recycled newspaper to a wide range of paper goods like the stylish ecojot (prices vary) line, made entirely of post-consumer recycled paper.

Moving up the food chain in terms of tech are all the odds and ends that make life easier for backpack-luggers whose laptops carry their whole academic lives inside them. Little essentials can go a long way when they’re well designed, like a compact surge protector ($20) that not only spares your computer from memory-zapping jolts but turns one outlet into four — handy when you’re squabbling over plug-in spots at the library. Another kind of essential multiplier is this new USB hub ($20) that’s more versatile than some of its peers, letting you use a mouse with your laptop while you transfer data and charge batteries on a variety of digital cameras, PDAs and cell phones.

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