Ask My Little Buddha

June 17, 2007 | Print

What is the safest and most environmental way to pack a lunch for my child?

The norm seems to be products that are plastic and yet I know that glass is usually not permitted for safety reasons. How can one keep a sandwich from becoming stale and softer fruits from leaking all over?

We’ve found the best safe, environmentally friendly gear for packing lunches in one place, Reusable Bags.

Lunch sack: Insulated and lead free (often the Dora and Spiderman lunch boxes are made of vinyl and vinyl can contain lead). There are a variety of children’s lunch bags in fun colors and patterns that kids like.

We find the Built NY insulated lunch bags great for their flexibility–we can easily fit our small plastic food containers and still zip the top; the bags are easy for the kids to open, close and carry.

Food containers: We use one of the safer plastic food containers, like Gladware for lunches, then wash and reuse.

Another option is the aluminum SIGG containers in size small (easier to fit into lunches). They are leakproof and lightweight. The Bento Box or Laptop Lunch (made with a non-leaching plastic though we still advise not using in a microwave) is appealing but we notice our preschoolers can’t open the outer box or containers very easily. Plus without handles it can be difficult to carry.

Sandwich wrap: We’ve tried this Wrap-N-Mat and it works! Better than plastic baggies.

Drink container: The lightweight aluminum Sigg Kids Bottles in the .3L size work well for lunch bags. Or we get the 12 ounce Klean Kanteen steel water bottle with the sports top.

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