#25–LUCKY LUNCH BOXES

I’m writing now, so you have ALL summer to think about plastic-freeing your kids’ (and maybe even your own) lunch box……..
It has been estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school. (laptop lunches)

http://www.laptoplunches.com/

Laptop Lunches are American-style bento boxes designed to help families pack nutritious, environment-friendly lunches for school, work, and travel. Our sustainable lunch containers–which come with a book of healthy lunch ideas and lunchmaking recipes–are reusable, recyclable, and dishwasher safe. Our lunchboxes do not contain phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), or lead.

Another very inspiring site,

http://www.wastefreelunches.org/

Waste free lunches encourage the following :

• cloth napkins
• reusable lunch box
• reusable lunch mat (wrap-n-mat has a great one.) sandwhich and place mat in one
• reusable juice container (stainless steel)
• stainless steel silverware

This can be instituted as a whole school policy. Many schools across the country are starting up these programs, led by parents who are trying to do their part. I know I’ve found it easier to be green when I know others are a part of it. Its inspiring when you now an entire cafeteria has switched to the green ideas, no more plastic, no more disposable water bottles, cloth napkins, etc… the impact is then HUGE! In our school cafeteria we started off slowly, first by eliminating styrofoam (so,so,so important), having a water dispenser (as opposed to water bottles) and using real silverware. Its amazing how much garbage we reduce by taking these steps.

I have a good friend who did a calculation on how long it would take a schools’ usage of juice boxes (530 kids in the school) to reach the top of the empire state building. A year? Half a year? A month? answer: A week! that is crazy. And to top it off, juice boxes aren’t recyclable b/c the cardboard is lined with foil. It can’t be separated in the recycling process. That is just one little school, in one little town, in one little place on earth. We’ve got to cut down on our waste.

great sites:

• reusablebags.com– great lunch boxes, a really functional stainless steel container for hot and cold foos (made in safe factory, BPA free, lead free) I’m ordering onenow so you can check back with me to find out if its as good as it sounds.
• wrap-n-mat–perfect way to store any knd of sandwiches (including bagels–favorite in our house) and/or snack
• bento boxes–all of the ablove sold at reusablebags.com (best prices) or at the individual sites