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!

Green Product Recommendation: Organic wear Makeup

Last week Ariana posted some tips for reusing, reducing, and recycling that are easy to implement in our everyday lives. Following up on that, I'd like to recommend a product that can help with the reducing aspect of the three Rs of living green.

As people interested in making our lives a little more eco-friendly, I'm sure you've all read or heard that a simple change you can make is to look out for the products that use minimal packaging. But why not take it a step further, and be on the lookout for products that are packaged in recycled -- and recyclable -- materials?

Packaging is one thing I know I really take for granted. It's so much more than just the cardboard or shrink-wrap or any of those tamper-proof seals. Packaging is often the product itself. How many of you have ever thought twice about your makeup compacts? I never considered all the plastic that goes into my pressed powder cases, my palettes of blush and eyeshadow.

The other day I was shopping for makeup, and I noticed a line of organic makeup. It's called Organic wear, by Physicians Formula. Now, I'll admit, what attracted me to this product initially was the organic aspect, knowing that natural ingredients are probably a lot better for my skin than manmade chemicals. But then I noticed that the packaging is made from recycled materials, and in the case of the Organic wear pressed powder (and the blushes and eyeshadows, I believe), the compact is made primarily of paper, using 93% less plastic than traditional compacts. The makeup brushes in this line, too, are made of natural goat hair fibers, instead of synthetic materials.

The most recommending feature, of course, is that not only are these products packaged better for the environment, but that they're great for my skin. I'm not noticing a difference between the look of my old makeup versus the new; the tinted moisturizer covers surprisingly well, equal, I'd say, to my former foundation of choice; and a dusting of the pressed powder over that finishes the look. But I am noticing that at night, when I take off my makeup, my complexion looks healthier, so I'm wondering if the chemicals in the old makeup weren't contributing to skin problems! Good for you, good for the earth, and, as I've forgotten to mention, good for your wallet (the cost is equivalent to regular makeup at the drugstore or supermarket) -- what's not to like about Organic wear?