Back to School...

The start of the school year is upon us, and for many students (and teachers like me) that means packing lunches. Now I've always been one for the individually wrapped snacks - they're just so convenient. Unfortunately, they also create a LOT of trash. I realized this towards the end of the school year and started looking for ways to generate less trash, perhaps even NO trash, in my lunch - something known as a "litterless lunch".

Now, at first I thought that I could stop buying individually wrapped portions and just buy, for example, a large package of chips and then put the chips into baggies. However, plastic bags are just as wasteful - and I'm trying to stay away from plastic bags. Plastic containers are an option, but they take up a lot of space. So I stumbled upon a few products.

The first is Wrap-N-Mat. This is a mat that you can wrap around your sandwich (or perhaps other lunch items). It wraps very nicely around each sandwich that I made, and when my lunch is over, it takes up less space in my bag, which is great. The exterior is fabric (they have a selection of a few different kinds) and the interior is lined - I chose PEVA lining over PVC. It's easy to wipe clean the wrap-n-mat, which I find convenient.

I really love happy-sacks (see picture in this post). Think plastic baggie, made out of fabric with lining inside, and that's what a happy-sack is. I have quite a few of these, in different fabrics, and I use them to hold dry snacks - chips, rice cakes, nuts. They come in different sizes, and take up very little space. They're also very easy to take care of - I throw mine in the washing machine with no problems.

Both of these items have really helped me create litterless lunches and they weren't too expensive - plus they will last for quite a long time. Funny enough but these days I look forward to packing my lunch - it's actually fun selecting my happy-sacks and using my wrap-n-mat.

Here are some other important parts of litterless lunches:

1. Carry a reusable lunch bag.
   
2. Use a reusable water bottle.
3. Use silverware instead of plastic utensils.
4. Try a cloth napkin instead of a paper napkin.

With all these tips, I hope you will start looking at how you pack your lunch differently!