Planet-friendly school supplies teach a valuable lesson.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—It's back-to-school shopping season, as you've probably noticed. Most years, retailers love it, while kids and parents dread it. But this year, both groups are singing the blues: The recession has 77 percent of parents saying they aren't doing any back-to-school shopping this year, according to the market research group NPD.

While those numbers include parents who are largely forgoing new clothes, gadgets, and other optional back-to-school items, some kids' school supplies are must-haves. But going for the most bargain basement prices could be costly for kids' health: Many cheap school supplies are made of unhealthy materials, like polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a toxic plastic used in backpacks and vinyl binders. Not only do PVC products contain chemicals that could interfere with your child's hormonal system, their manufacture requires cancer-causing chemicals to be produced. Adding to the danger is the fact that many vinyl products are decorated with lead-based paints.

The nonprofit Center for Health, Environment, and Justice (CHEJ) publishes a "Back To School Guide to PVC-Free School Supplies" each fall; with their help, we've compiled a quick go-to guide for your kids' school supplies.

#1: Binders. Don't be tempted by Hannah Montana, Dora, or Diego. Shiny binders brightly decorated with their happy faces are covered with vinyl, as are most binders with plastic on the outside. Unfortunately, there aren't many PVC-free binders sold in your average office-supply store, aside from the metal ones that your child may not want to lug around. According to CHEJ, certain Avery products, which are sold at CVS, Target, and Staples, are PVC free: the “Heavy-Duty” Binder line, Round Ring Poly Binder, and Translucent Active Reference Binder. If you can't find these, ask your child's teacher if you can use something like a notebook with folder dividers.

#2: Notebooks. Paper is one school supply you can rest assured isn't made with toxic PVC. But you still want to be green and look for recycled products. Aim for "100 percent post-consumer recycled" when buying paper and notebooks. "Post-consumer" means that the paper was made from the stuff diverted from landfills, thanks to curbside bins and office recycling programs. Paper simply labeled "recycled" or "pre-consumer recycled" means that it was made from the scraps left over from making paper from trees.

#3: Pens and pencils. Nowadays, you can find pencils made with everything from recycled money to old blue jeans and pens made from corn-based plastics or recycled newspapers. The stories behind them are so entertaining, it may actually make your kids want to pick them up to do their homework. A good resource for all these greener pens and pencils is Green Earth Office Supply.

#4: Backpacks and lunch bags. Again, shiny products with brightly colored paints that have that notorious "plasticky" smell should be avoided. When it comes to lunch bags, watch out for ones that are made from nylon on the outside but have a slick plastic lining on the inside; the lining may be constructed from PVC. Go with cloth bags and pack them full of reusable containers so you don't generate too much waste.

According the CHEJ guide, all Jansport and Lands' End backpacks are PVC free. But if you have any hand-me-downs of those company's products, you might as well save your cash and reuse those.

#5: Clothes. Another prime opportunity for hand-me-downs, clothes don't need to be replaced year after year, if you can take advantage of secondhand outfits from friends and relatives. But there are a few items you don't want to reuse, namely raincoats, rain boots, and cheap imitation-leather shoes, because all of these are made most frequently with vinyl. Look for raincoats and umbrellas that are made from nylon and cotton and have a polyurethane coating; polyurethane releases bad chemicals during manufacturing, but it's less hazardous than vinyl. Rather than buy shiny plastic rain boots, go for footwear made of natural materials, or from a plastic called EVA. It's a type of vinyl that, unlike PVC, doesn't require cancer-causing or hormone-disrupting chemicals.