DC is starting 9th grade tomorrow with his backpack from kindergarten. It's still in good shape. Why buy a new one?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you do with the old one? In answer to your question, no. Same backpack until it dies. I try to buy neutral ones so no characters to outgrow.

We donate the old ones.

If it is still usable (assuming you wouldn’t donate something that isn’t), why do you need a new one?

No. My kids keep their backpacks for many years, OP. The longest-serving items are my kids' water bottles. Stainless steel, with screw tops. Unbreakable. They're 19 and 14 and still use theirs from 10 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:I usually get my kids a new backpack every year. My older 2 kids said they can use the same one they had last year. I wanted to get my daughter a new one but didn’t get one in time.

No need to. Sustainably is a good choice.

No way. We've had backpacks that only lasted a year but only because of an error in purchasing on my part (bought a cheap Target backpack one year that just didn't survive, bought a too small backpack for my oldest in early elementary and has to replace it). Now I know to buy food quality and err towards larger.

Ll bean for pre k. Still going for 5th grade. My middle school ll bean wore out after college. Husband still uses college one. These last 10-20 y.

Anonymous wrote:What do you do with the old one? In answer to your question, no. Same backpack until it dies. I try to buy neutral ones so no characters to outgrow.

We donate the old ones.

Yes we do. We use the old ones for travel or to keep toys in; otherwise we donate them.

No - in elementary we did start out with smaller bags and then sized up maybe in third grade or so, but otherwise our kids use them until there's a reason to replace. I wash them over the summer so they're fresh and ready to go.

What do you do with the old one?
In answer to your question, no. Same backpack until it dies. I try to buy neutral ones so no characters to outgrow.

No

No. Every so often - when they're going from babyish to bigger kid, another when going into middle school, another for HS. If there's some specific reason they want/need a new one they might get it.

Used same one from PK through 4th grade. It was a kid one from Pottery Barn. So used it for 6 years! Then got an LL Bean one for 5th-HS.

No. WTF? I switch every 3 years and still consider that far too wasteful

I usually get my kids a new backpack every year. My older 2 kids said they can use the same one they had last year. I wanted to get my daughter a new one but didn’t get one in time.