Eco-Lunch

It's estimated that every day in the U.S. 20 million sandwich bags are dumped into landfills. It's time to apply the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle motto to our children's lunch.

Jazz up the cafeteria with these safe, fashionable and functional reusable or recyclable containers. Make it chic and eco-friendly to "brown bag" it.

Plastic Baggie Alternative

LunchSkins reusable bags by 3GreenMoms

LunchSkins

These bags can be used 100's of times, are dishwasher safe, and made in the USA with high quality thick cotton fabric that is coasted with a food-safe polyurethane liner (lead free and BPA free). Use a permanent marker on the nameplate to ensure your LunchSkins bags come home from school. These bags are great for more than just bologna sandwiches—fill them with dog treats, ice for boo-boos, extra pacifiers, baby toiletries, cosmetics, and more.
Snack Bags, $7.85; Sandwich Bags, $8.95 and Sub Bags, $10.95.

Available at Whole Foods Markets
AND
Good Food | Good Things
865 Boston Post Road, Darien, (203) 655-7355

Thermos Vacuum Insulated Food Jars keep their soup, mac 'n cheese or pasta hot while it's stashed in their locker. All Thermos vinyl lunch boxes are lead free and now come with hangtags informing consumers that the products pass all recognized safety standards related to lunch boxes, including the CPSC and ASTM. $17.99
Available online and at grocery stores and local retailers like Target.

Kids Healthy Lunch Kit by Fit & Fresh comes with the "Cool Possibilities" Sandwich holder, "Kids Little Dipper" fruit or salad container with a dip dispenser, "1-Cup Smart Portion" container, and "2-Cup Smart Portion" Container. The containers are all BPA-free, meet FDA regulations for food-grade plastic, easy to clean, freezer, microwave and top-rack dishwasher safe.

Fit & Fresh

All of the containers in the set come with their own attachable ice pack. So cool! They have easy to open lids and come in fun, bright colors like blue/green, green/green red/purple, or orange/yellow. 13 piece set for $16.99.

ThermosBrown Bag Alternative

Thermos has great collapsible insulated lunch bags in Soft Lunch Kits (briefcase shape), $6.99 and Lunch Sacks, $5.99 to help their lunches stay hot or cold for hours.
Available online and at grocery stores and local retailers like Target.

Land's End has an assortment of PVC-free, reusable thermal lunch "boxes" in fashionable fabrics for boys and girls. Most styles are made to match and clip onto their backpacks. On sale now, $15.50.

Juice Box/Bag Alternative

CamelBak® Better Bottle™ it is lighter than stainless steel styles because it is made of 100% BPA-Free plastic and it is spill-proof, .075 liter size $14.
Available online and at Dick's Sporting Goods.

Kleen KanteenKlean Kanteen 100% BPA-Free, stainless steel water bottles with assorted drinking tops from sippy styles to sport and loop caps available in the classic shape, wide mouth, and insulated styles.

Available at
Whole Foods Markets

REI
189 Connecticut Avenue, Norwalk, (203) 838-1938.
Open Monday-Friday 10AM – 9PM, Saturday 10AM – 9PM, and Sunday 11AM – 6PM.
 
Practically Green
23 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield, (203)431-3000
Open Monday-Friday 10AM – 6PM, and Saturday 10AM – 5PM.

Kids Squeezable Water Bottle by Fit & Fresh, 14oz., $2.99. The curvy, multi-colored, hourglass water bottle is perfect for little hands and makes it fun for kids to drink water at school. The bottle is small enough to fit into most lunch boxes and backpacks. Best of all, the pop-up spout is treated with Agion to inhibit the growth of mold, mildew and bacteria. It's BPA-free (meets FDA regulations for food-grade plastic), freezer, microwave and top-rack dishwasher safe.

To make sure you are choosing a water bottle that is BPA-free read How to Choose a Safe Water Bottle

Plastic Utensils Alternative

Earth Friendly Utensils box of 24 assorted forks/spoons/knives, $2. Made from GMO free cornstarch resin. TerraWare products are biodegradable in 4-6 months. These tableware sets are microwave safe and cut-resistant making them both strong and durable.
Available online.

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