“IIt is difficult to change customer habits because products are often imposed on school lists. Many teachers ask for plastic rulers and notebook protectors: this suits them much more, admits immediately a saleswoman at the Stationery of the Military School, located avenue de la Motte-Picquet, in Paris. For notebooks, it’s a bit the same thing. Teachers most often ask for it with white paper, so not recycled… So we can’t really change our shelves. »
An excellent alternative ecologically speaking, recycled paper finds it difficult to find its place on the shelves of stationery stores, in particular because it costs more than white. “Currently, recycled paper costs twice as much as conventional paper. It is therefore not very interesting to offer it for sale, knowing that we will sell perhaps three in the year, ”adds this professional.
READ ALSOThe cost of back to school up 4.25% for a 6-year-old studente
Consume French
However, in this stationery from 7e district of Paris, some customers say they want to consume in a more eco-responsible way during this back-to-school period. A mother who has come to equip her children for their return to school, Aurore claims to be economically patriotic by favoring products from French industry: “I like what is made in France. French quality is superior. This is because fewer chemicals are used during manufacturing. The young woman, who prefers to buy French “even if it is necessarily more expensive”, does so more for environmental reasons: “I take into account the fact that a product imported from China or the United States has a much larger carbon footprint than our products. This is why I prefer to go directly to the store to buy French products than to order on the Internet. »
READ ALSOAlert on ballpoint pens purchased for children
Reuse, go second hand
Reuse school supplies from one year to the next, favor second-hand items, make your own pencil case or notebook cover, etc. : in this period of preparation for the start of the school year, the Zero Waste Center, in eastern Paris, provides advice and tips for an eco-responsible start of the school year at a lower cost. Liudmyla, a volunteer with the association, explains: “As part of our mission to raise awareness of the ‘zero waste’ objective, we collect items needed for the start of the school year. This mainly involves reusable notebooks, deposited by people who no longer use them, and which are then available for those who need them. They just have to come and help themselves. »