It's time to start thinking about heading back to the classroom and the daily routine of packing a lunch in the morning. More and more parents are choosing to pack waste-free lunches for their kids and themselves to cut down on the amount of garbage they are contributing to landfills. There are hundreds of options out there when choosing to go waste-free; there are organic cotton lunch bags and sandwich wraps, hip lunch totes, and lots and lots of DIY options. Whatever you choose to pack your lunch in, go waste-free with the following options.
Ready-to-buy
One mom's desire to create a safe and economical alternative to plastic and foil inspired eco lunch gear, based in Michigan. On eco lunch gear's home page you can watch a short demonstration of how the 100% organic cotton sandwich wraps work. This company also carries snack bags in two sizes, cinch sacks, tissue pouches and napkins. All products are made from 100% organic cotton and canvas. You can order these products online at eco lunch gear's store.
Milkdot carries a cool line of lunch totes made from nylon that are also PVC-Free, BPA-Free and tested lead-safe. They come in three color combos of tangerine/chocolate, lime/chocolate, and candy apple red/chocolate. Milkdot was created when one mother couldn't find any baby or children's products that didn't contain dangerous chemicals. Milkdot products are available in northern California* and online at amazon.com and A Polka Dot Moon.
The Rick Rack Queen can be found on Etsy and is a New Haven, Connecticut mom of three. She carries a full line of reusable lunch gear lovingly handmade using oilcloth. Rick Rack Queen carries everything from bibs and lunch sacks to snack bags and lunch totes. Products can be ordered by visiting the Rick Rack Queen at her Etsy shop.
Dorie from Tumbling Blocks has created an easy-to follow tutorial on making your own oilcloth lunch sacks. Pay attention to her tips, especially if you haven't worked with oilcloth before.
About.com provides easy and simple instructions for making an insulated wrap that will fit around an aluminum can or juice box. It's perfect for keeping a drink cool without the moisture getting on other lunch items.
The Frugal Family Fun blog has an adorable lunch tote tutorial made from the leg of an old pair of jeans. Be sure to follow the links at the bottom of the tutorial page and make a DIY sandwich wrap.
Stitch it Cheap has a tutorial for making your own lunch sack out of a small amount of fabric, fusible stiff stabilizer or interfacing and a matching design of your choice. Depending on fabric choice this could be used by boys and girls, men and women.
A video tutorial for making reusable snack bags with no velcro can be found at the Angry Chicken. Simple, easy to follow, and oh so cute, it takes practically no time at all to have enough of these to last the entire school year.
Now that the zero-waste lunch gear is already to be filled with healthy and delicious lunches and snacks, here is a list of when some area students will be heading back to school.
Alameda County schools: August 30
Amador County schools: August 18
Colusa County schools: August 13
Del Norte County schools: September 7
Humboldt County schools: August 30
*Milkdot retailers
mill valley baby & kids company
12 miller avenue
mill valley, ca 94941
tel 415 389 1312
reclaim
855 santa cruz ave
menlo park, ca 94025
tel 650 329 9480
summer for kids
1235 coast village road
suite c
montecito, ca 93108
tel 805 565 2277
Comments
Love the ideas on making your own!! Leigh will be headed back to school next week and we need all the green living ideas we can get.
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