Put the Green back into your wallet by packing a lunch box everyday. The beauty of packing your own is that it’s better for your health, your pocketbook and the planet. You can choose to chop up yummy organic fruits and veggies and you’ll wind up avoiding a ton of packaging. If you calculate how much you spend a month on buying your lunch from a cafeteria or deli and then imagine a month’s worth of packaging (bags, plastic, cups, utensils, napkins etc) – you could be doing yourself and the environment a massive favor by spending just 10 minutes every morning creating a little packed-up lunchtime feast for you and every member of your family.
I love the lunch box pictured. It’s made by Built and has separate compartments for your food and beverages. It also expands the more you fill it. Remember to pack reusable containers, flatware, and a cloth napkin. Please leave us some comments and ideas about what you are packing for lunch?
I’ve been packing since the beg of the year and have managed to now get it down to a zero waste lunch. I use snack taxi’s for reusable bags versus ziplocks (http://www.snacktaxi.com/) and a wrapmat in place of foil (http://www.wrapnmat.com/) I take my apple core home and compost and use a cloth knapkin! It’s a great way to feel like I am doing something for the planet everyday and its also encouraged others in my office to go green!
My husband and I have been trying to get in the habit of packing our lunch everyday. We’re not perfect yet, but we’ve found it works best if, the night before, we make four portions of our dinner meal instead of two. It’s easy to pack up the leftover after we do the dishes and saves an extra 10 minutes to sleep in!
I have been really into the Japanese style of packing lunch lately–“Bento”. It’s great for my son, who is six, and my husband is enjoying it, too! There is no waste in a Bento lunch since you use a container (Bento box, which can be any size or style you want, authentically Japanese or your American Lock n Lock type containers) over and over again. It’s a fascinating topic, to me anyways, and I have great fun being creative with my Bento lunches when time allows. See http://www.lunchinabox.net for more ideas. I am not affiliated with the site, just a fan as it has so many great ideas for packing lunches that are healthy, beautiful, and good for the Earth!
Since I was still in kindergarten, I have always brought lunch boxes. They are always homemade stuff. Not just that, but also a huge bottle of water as not to buy new ones with plastic bottles–okay, back then I didn’t think of that. I am not yet a mother but I’ll make sure I always send my kids to school with at least a lunch box in the future.