Packing A Healthy Lunch
Tips for a waste–free lunch:
Minimize trash by packing school lunches and snacks in a waste-free way. Teachers and administrators
can use this letter from the Environmental Protection Agency to ask that parents send kids with responsibly-
packaged food and drink.
- Store food and beverages in reusable packaging. Avoid plastic baggies and paper lunch sacks.
- Give kids silverware and cotton napkins instead of their disposable counterparts.
- When serving pre-made foods, choose ones that have minimal packaging or that are available in bulk.
- Recycle any glass or metal containers.
- Encourage your child's school to start a food compost bin for leftover scraps.
Some product ideas for parents:
Big gulps. Sigg Bottles are reusable and made from durable aluminum. ($15.99-$17.99, www.mysigg.com)
Contain It. Stainless-steel-lined food jars keep contents warm. Check out options from Thermos and Target. The Thermos Foogo holds beverages. (www.thermos.com, www.target.com)
Lap it up. This innovative lunch box by Laptop Lunches is ideal for the perfectly portioned meal. ($34.99, www.laptoplunches.com)
In the bag. Adorable and portable, Mimi the Sardine offers their eco-coated cotton lunch bugs in a choice of patterns. ($21.95, www.mimithesardine.com)
Lug–a–lunch. Cool Totes lunch bags are delightfully decorated, insulated, reusable and lead free. ($23.95, www.reusablebags.com)
Fresh Look. The lunch box system by Fit & Fresh gives you endless choices for midday meals. ($9.99, www.fit-fresh.com)
All Wrapped Up. Wrap-N-Mat performs double lunch duty as a sandwich bag and a placemat. ($6.50, www.wrap-n-mat.com)
Paper No More. These colorful cloth napkins come in kid-friendly sizes and six themes, including Beach and Sports. (set of 5, $23, www.fabkins.com)
