How to green your lunch

Whether you bring leftovers to the office, survive on takeout or pack a daily sandwich for your kids to eat at the school cafeteria, MNN can help you raise your and your family's eco-friendly lunch profile. Find suggestions about what to eat, how to transport it and how to make the most of your lunch hour.

 

Photo: Joi/Flickr

 

According to the EPA, every child who brings a brown-bag lunch to school each day generates 67 pounds of waste by the end of the school year! Thankfully, there's a whole new culture emerging around "brown-bagging it" — and, thankfully, it has nothing to do with disposable paper bags.

 

Wrap-N-Mat: Say goodbye to the Ziploc baggie and hello to an environmentally friendly, money-saving way to pack a peanut butter sandwich. The Wrap-N-Mat folds and fastens securely around your food, and then doubles as a placemat during lunchtime. It's washable, reusable, and can be folded up and tucked into a purse or bag after use. See Wrap-N-Mat in action, and find more sustainable lunch tips here.

 

Bento boxes: Commonly used in Japanese cuisine, bento boxes tend to feature single portions of rice, fish or meat, and vegetables kept in distinct containers — but you can put whatever you like in yours! Ranging from elaborately styled lacquered boxes to simple, stainless steel versions, the bento box feels like a small lunchtime revolution. The stackable steel bentos fit neatly in a tote bag, and come in different sizes, which let lunch packers control desired portion size. Did you resolve to eat more salad? Put fresh greens or steamed vegetables in the biggest bento container, and relegate last night's mac-n-cheese to the smaller box.

 

Lunchopolis: The makers of Lunchopolis encourage parents to "feed your kids consciously," with their series of reusable plastic containers and bottles that fit neatly into a multicolored, insulated lunch box. Don't know what to put into all those containers? The company's website comes to the rescue with menu and recipe ideas that are kid-friendly and eco-approved.

 

The "old school" lunchbox: As a child of the '80s, I loved my plastic Care Bears lunchbox, which came complete with a matching Thermos. I didn't think much about my lunchbox's positive impact on the planet — I just cared about keeping my sandwich unsquished and my soup warm until lunchtime rolled around. These days, I regret bowing to 5th grade pressures to drop my suddenly dorky lunchbox in favor of a bland, disposable paper bag. Sigh.

 

Young-at-heart adults or adults with youngsters at home can reclaim their love of the lunchbox by ordering one online, adorned with today's most popular icons: Sponge Bob, Dora the Explorer and, of course, Barbie.

 

The "new school" lunchbox: If you don't want to go the retro/nostalgic route, there are plenty of grown-up-friendly boxes and kits that add a touch of eco-sophistication to your lunch. The Lunch Tote from Built NY features a sleek design and separate, insulated pouches for food and drink. Pottery Barn also recently started carrying a lunch container called Do Your Part, which comes in two styles and can be monogrammed with your initials to ward off your co-workers' food-poaching tendencies.

 

Find more ideas about packing a waste-free lunch for yourself or your kids at the site Waste Free Lunches.