How to Pack a Green Lunch for Kids
It’s time for parents to start packing green lunches for their children, and that doesn’t just mean green food. It means making sure that every single thing packed in the lunch is eco-friendly and won’t create added waste in our landfills.
Do you ever think about how much waste the average student produces at lunch? It’s actually quite a lot if you consider the paper bags, juice boxes, soda cans, sandwich bags, and plastic utensils that are thrown away each day…and that’s just by kids who have their lunches packed!
It’s time for parents to start packing green lunches for their children, and that doesn’t just mean green food. It means making sure that every single thing packed in the lunch is eco-friendly and won’t create added waste in our landfills.
Take a look at how you can help your child have a green lunch:
Lunch Box
Instead of using paper or plastic bags, make sure that your child uses a reusable lunch box. That way you can just wash it out and it can be used over and over again. Check out Laptop Lunches or the ACME Recycled Cotton Lunch Bag for ideas.
Washable Utensils
Children use way too many plastic utensils on a daily basis, and these utensils get used once and then are throw away. A more sustainable and fun way for your kids to eat their lunch would be with items like dinosaur-inspired bamboo utensils from Bambu or biodegradable corn plastic cutlery from Nat-Ur.
Reusable Containers
Aluminum foil and plastic sandwich bags create a lot of excess waste that could be eliminated by using reusable containers. Check out our post on reusable sandwich bags for ways to wrap your food, as well as Recycled Food Storage Containers that are made from 100% recycled plastic.
Cloth Napkins
Paper napkins contribute to the large amount of paper waste that ends up in our landfills. Instead of using paper napkins pack a cloth napkin in your child’s lunchbox. Some great ideas are 100% organic cotton napkins from Litter Free Lunch or Fabikins bamboo and organic cotton napkins.
Here’s a great video on the Fabikins products:
Stainless Steel Drink Containers
Plastic juice boxes and aluminum cans no longer have to be thrown away or put into the recycling bin when your kids have a stainless steel reusable drink container. Some great containers to check out are CamelBak Stainless Steel Kids’ Bottle, Blue Q Stainless Steel Water Bottles, or the Crocodile Creek Animal Tracks Stainless Steel Drinking Bottle.
Finally, for an entire green lunch packing experience, you can purchase the Kids Konserve Waste-Free Lunch Kit from ReusableBags.com. It comes with everything you see below:
