Natural & Green Living Week – Eco-Friendly Lunch Ideas

It’s almost time for school at least here in our area and lunches have become a priority for our family this year. My goal is to pack healthy and eco-friendly lunches for my picky eater so that he’ll enjoy lunch without compromising the fruits and veggies he does like. With the idea of healthy in mind it’s also a good idea to think eco friendly. I can’t imagine how many plastic bags get used during lunch time, with sandwiches and snacks. So I’ve sat out to find some helpful eco-friendly lunch ideas.

During my search I came across Laptop Lunches. Laptop Lunches is an inventive way to get your kids to eat healthier as well as creating a waste free lunch. I asked  Amy Hemmert the President and co-founder of Laptop Lunches tell us a little about their product and to help newbie packers get started with this way of lunching.

Can you give us a little background on how Laptop Lunches was started?

When I lived in Japan in the late 80s and early 90s, I packed a
Japanese-style bento box for lunch each day. Then when we returned to
the States and my kids started preschool, it was natural for me to pack
their lunches in the bento boxes I had brought back from Japan. But I
noticed that most of the other children’s lunches were made up of
processed, prepackaged foods. These containers can’t be resealed, so
the children would take a few bites and sips and throw the rest
away—packaging, food, and all. Then, at the end of the day, I’d see the
teachers hauling out large bags of trash and knew there had to be a
better way. My friend and jogging partner, Tammy Pelstring, had
witnessed the same phenomenon at her school. On a jog one morning, we
came to the conclusion that more parents would pack nutritious,
waste-free lunches if they had tools that would make it easy for them
to do so.

Do you have any suggestions for new parents who may feel overwhelmed about packing a healthy lunch daily for their child?

Get your kids involved as early as you can. Provide them with
nutritious alternatives and encourage them to help pack their lunches.
Check out the Laptop Lunch User’s Guide for lots of other great tips.

What types of plastics are the Laptop Lunches made out of?

Our Laptop Lunches are made in California from the highest quality
polypropylene (#5) available . They are free of phthlates, bisphenol A
(BPA) and lead.

Do you have any tips for parents of younger children on helping them to remember to not throw away their boxes at school?

Our Laptop Lunches fit together like a puzzle, so there’s no need for
kids to remove the containers when they eat. Also, kids take ownership
of their Laptop Lunches, so unlike Mom’s Tupperware, they value it and
hang onto it. Also, each piece has a place for the child’s name. Since
the containers look like they’re part of a set, the clean-up crew is
unlikely to throw them in the trash.

Thank you Amy for sharing these helpful ideas with us.