Corporate Responsibility

The most responsible school bag is the one that does not need replacing in February. Almost everything on this page follows from that single idea — durability first, then materials, then packaging, and no claims we cannot stand behind.

Durability before everything else

A bag that lasts three school years instead of one avoids two-thirds of the material, two-thirds of the manufacturing energy and two-thirds of the freight. No recycled content offsets a bag that fails at half term. So we choose for the failure points first, and will not list a bag that gets them wrong:

• Coil zips with metal sliders, which can be repaired; not moulded plastic zips, which usually cannot.
• Stitched bases rather than welded ones, and replaceable base panels on the models that get dragged along playgrounds.
• Bar-tacked load seams at every strap and handle anchor.
• Buckles, clips and adjusters held as stocked spare parts, sent free of charge for the life of the warranty.
• A published warranty of one to three years per model, on our Warranty & Returns page, so the claim is testable.

Materials

• The LitePak line is made in a 300-denier recycled polyester derived from post-consumer PET.
• Our water-repellent finishes are fluorocarbon-free (PFC-free), and we ask the same of the proofing products we recommend on our product care page.
• Thread is colourfast polyester, chosen so an embroidered bag survives washing as well as a plain one.
• We do not use leather or any animal-derived material in any of the twenty-three models.

We are not going to tell you our bags are made from ocean plastic or that buying one plants a tree. Recycled polyester is a genuine improvement on virgin polyester and it is still a plastic that sheds microfibres when washed — which is another reason we recommend hand cleaning for every model except the LitePak line.

Packaging

• Orders are shipped in plain, recyclable cardboard outers with paper tape. No plastic mailing bags.
• Void fill is shredded or moulded paper, not polystyrene or plastic air pillows.
• Where a bag reaches us in a polybag, we reuse that bag internally rather than adding a second layer for the customer.
• No printed catalogues, no promotional inserts, no plastic-laminated cards in the parcel.

Working conditions and modern slavery

We do not manufacture. We buy finished goods, which means our influence sits in who we buy from and what we ask of them. We expect the factories that make the bags we sell to pay lawful wages, to keep lawful working hours, to provide a safe working environment, and not to use forced, bonded or child labour. We require our suppliers to confirm this in writing, and we reserve the right to end a supply relationship where we find otherwise. We are honest about the limits of that: as a small buyer we have less leverage than a large one, and we do not audit factories ourselves.

The School Bag Company is below the turnover threshold at which section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires a published slavery and human trafficking statement. We are stating our position here voluntarily rather than claiming a compliance obligation we do not have. If our turnover reaches the threshold, we will publish a statement in the form the Act requires.

How we sell

Responsible retailing is not only about materials. It is also about not manipulating people who are buying under time pressure in August:

• No countdown timers, no artificial "only 2 left" warnings, no fake sale prices struck through.
• No pre-ticked marketing boxes. Consent to email is opt-in, never assumed.
• Prices shown include VAT, and the delivery charge is shown before you commit.
• We will recommend a cheaper bag when the cheaper bag is the right one. Selling a 32 litre bag to a seven-year-old is bad for the child and bad for us.

Data and privacy

We collect the minimum data needed to fulfil an order, we set exactly one cookie, and we run no analytics or advertising trackers. See our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Accessibility

We aim to meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA on this website and we treat accessibility failures as faults to be fixed rather than as a nice-to-have. Our current position, including where we know we fall short, is on our accessibility page.

What we have not done yet

Tell us if we get it wrong

If you think a claim on this website is overstated, or you have information about one of our suppliers we should know, email [email protected]. We read everything sent to that address.