I have tried lots and lots of different lunch box combinations over the years. At the start of this year I decided that I wanted to have completely waste free lunch boxes (for my primary school kids anyway -secondary school son does his own lunch so can’t control that one so much!) I bought four of the lunch box sets you see pictured above in January this year. They were the most expensive lunch boxes I have ever purchased, but they ticked all the boxes for me:
- they were BPA free lunch boxes
- they were going to make it possible for me to have the lunch boxes completely waste free.
I have loved using them since day one, but thought I would wait a term and see if I still feel the same way about them. And I do, I love them. When I bought the lunch box sets I also bought some additional sandwich wraps, so I would be able to have waste free coverage for all the items. This is how I use them:
The kids have a sandwich or a roll in the BPA free wrap.
They have a muffin, slice or other home baked treat in another BPA free wrap.
Cut up fruit and crackers in the stainless steel containers.
I then add a piece of whole fruit or veg and the stainless steel BPA free water bottle.
To keep the lunch boxes waste free, it does require a little bit more work, but I have just made it part of the after school routine, so it is just another task in my day. One that I am very happy to make for the environmental impact it has.
After school the kids bring their lunch boxes to the bench. I take care of any left overs, hand wash the containers and depending on what the sandwich wraps hand in them, I will either wipe them down or hand wash them. I let them air dry and then re-stock them later that night when the kids are in bed. The cut up fruit I place in the containers in the fridge. The plastic lids are leakproof. I find the stainless steel containers vastly superior to the plastic ones I have used in the past. There isn’t any of that funny taste you can sometimes get from plastic containers, nor is there any staining from the food.
EDIT:
I now use new wraps as our others were eaten up by our puppy. You can find them directly here or see how I use them in this post June Lunch Box Ideas.
Ecotoys \ stocks lots of waste free lunch box items, including the tins we use. Kid’s Konserve is an America company, so for American readers you can buy online via the Kid’s Konserve website.
Have you made the move to a waste free lunch box?