Thrifty Green Thursday no 3

We are going to hit on a topic that is near to my heart today… waste.

The average school child who brings their lunch to school generates 67 pounds of lunch related trash each school year. That is PER CHILD. The average American school generates more than 18,000 pounds of waste each year. 18,000 pounds!!! And that is just one school.

Wow. That’s pretty impressive, right? It’s downright scary!

So, what can we, as parents, do to help cut down on the amoung of waste generated by our kids? Well, we can start by packing a lunch for our kids – that’s the healthy part – but make sure that we pack it into a container that will not generate waste!

I know, you walk through the grocery store and you see all of those easy, single-serve packages of stuff that your kids beg to have in their lunch, and it’s tempting! Believe me, I know the temptation! But I have found that with the right lunchbox system, I can make sure that my girls are getting a healthy, balanced lunch and cutting down on the waste!

What’s the secret?

First, I made sure that they have lunchboxes that either have compartments for everything, or that they are able to hold the containers I can re-use.

Our favorite lunchbox is the Laptop Lunchbox. I like them so much that I got one for my hubby too. They come with 2 large and 2 small containers, a mini container with a lid and a fork and spoon. One of the large containers has a sealing lid, so you can send “wet” things in there – applesauce, yogurt, etc.

laptop lunchbox

Yes, they are plastic, but they are tested to make sure that it is food safe. Laptop Lunches was started by 2 moms who wanted to cut down on waste and find a better alternative.

One thing that I love about them is that I feel this sense of obligation to put something healthy into each container. This helps me make sure that I get a good, balanced, healthy meal each day to send with them.

We picked up a couple of fabric bags that they carry them in each day, and we toss in a cloth napkin and a milk or their Sigg water bottles for a beverage.

Happy Balloon Bento Box

The other lunchboxes that we use come to us from Asia. I found some adorable bento boxes at Daiso for a few dollars each and the girls love to use them. The ones we use most are 2 levels with a lid for each. I put the sandwich in on e level, and put the rest of the goodies in the other. Ours have a strap that keeps them closed, but there are many styles that are self-locking. A fun thing about these in particular, is that they have a space set aside for the matching chopsticks to just fit inside the lid. My daughter loves anything Chinese (well, Asian, actually!) so this just made her day.

If you look online or have an Asian market nearby, there is a plethora of fun little things that you can use in a bento box – the Japanese use them daily, and they get quite creative with some of their lunches. As you can see above, these small boxes can hold quite a bit of food.

Now that we have the container squared away, what do we put inside? Think bulk. Think homemade. I buy a large jar of applesauce (or make it) and put it into smaller containers to send to school. I buy a large container of plain or vanilla yogurt and add some fruit to it in a smaller container to take to school. I buy lunchmeat and portion it out for the week – then freeze the rest for another week. I bake bread once a week, and occasionall bake muffins or cookies. I make granola. I slice up farm fresh veggies.

Each day they get a sandwich, some veggie sticks and dip, a treat – cookie, yogurt, applesauce, poki stick, etc – and either milk (that doesn’t have to be refrigerated) or water in their Sigg’s. I will usually toss in some fresh fruit too. All of this goes into their lunchbox, the box goes into the bag with a napkin and drink, and they are good to go! The only thing that goes into the trash is their milk carton.

On the rare occasions that I use a “traditional” lunchbox, I have some small Tupperware containers that everything goes into. Snack cups and sandwich keepers work great, and I have yet to have either of the girls forget to bring something home. They remember to put everything back into the bag, and their school has a big bin outside each classroom for lunchboxes to go into.

When I figure that our school lunch program increased the cost to $2.75 per student, per day this year, I figure that I am saving a few dollars, and my kids aren’t eating chicken nuggets and pizza every day. Fortunately, the split is about 50/50 between kids that bring lunch and kids that are “hot lunch” so they don’t feel weird about being the only ones eating a cold lunch.

Is this what we really want them to eat?

So, skip the individual sized packages and send reusable containers with your kids to hold their lunch. Get creative with it! You may just surprise yourself with what you find to use! Just don’t fall into the ziploc bag rut now that you have cut out wasteful packaging… that would be a bit redundant, no?