An updated Anatomy of a Waste-Free Lunch post
Way back in the early days of my blog, I wrote a post about how I pack a frugal, waste-free lunch for Mr. FG.
Seeing as that was over four years ago, I thought it would be fun to do an updated post.
I send two beverages with him...water in a stainless steel Klean Kanteen, and iced or hot tea in his Thermos Tumbler
(which, by the way, is really fabulous for keeping beverages hot or cold. It's amazing how long it works!)
The only difficulty with these two containers is that they will dent if you drop them on a hard surface. Otherwise, they're pretty darn near perfect.
For items I want to send in small quantities, I dearly love my little sidekick containers by To Go Ware (I bought mine at Hip Mountain Mama.)
These are stainless steel, completely plastic-free, and fairly lightweight, so if you drop them, they're not likely to dent. They aren't leakproof, though, so I don't use them for liquids or for things like yogurt.
Probably my most-used lunchbox item are my small Pyrex containers. I love these for sending fruits and vegetables.
You can't usually buy a set of these on their own, but they typically are included in larger Pyrex sets
. I also sometime see them sold individually at grocery stores, and on two occasions, I've been fortunate enough to find them at Goodwill.
Whatever you do, don't be tempted to buy Anchor glass containers instead of Pyrex. Every single one of my Anchor lids has cracked, but my Pyrex lids are still going strong.
I use other various Pyrex containers for whatever main dish I'm sending along (it's usually leftovers), but probably the 2-cup round size is the one that sees the most use.
For items that need to be sent in really small quantities, I just bought some teensy stainless steel containers from LunchBots. These have a small silicone ring around the inside of the lid, so they're leak-proof...yay!
That makes them perfect for condiments like BBQ sauce or salad dressing.
You can buy LunchBots brand items at a number of retail outlets, but this teeny set is only available directly through LunchBots.
(Not affiliated with them, by the way. I just think these containers are great!)
To keep the food cold, I use Rubbermaid reusable cooling packs. And I send real silverware because it's green and also because plastic utensils are just no fun to use.
Now, if I was packing lunches for my kids, I might be a little more hesitant to send all of these nice and somewhat expensive items. But Mr. FG is responsible and has almost never lost a container (and I think the one he lost was plastic anyway, so he's forgiven.) 😉
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Great tips on packing a waste-free lunch! I love those small stainless steel containers, I've never seen those before. How cute!
I buy prepared products like salsa and pesto in glass jars that will be good for re-purposing as lunch containers. I look for a wide mouth with no tapering and a metal lid that screws on. Since it's just me, it's often not worth the effort to make things like that (salsa, pesto) from scratch, because I'll never get around to eating it all. And this way, I get something tasty in my "tupperware" before I start using them!
My son is going on his third year with the same PlanetBox (although we did need to buy a new carrying case this year). He's only nine, and not especially....careful with his belongings, so it's held up fantastically!
An added bonus for my active boy -- when he flips open the lid, all his food is right there. No unloading multiple containers and lids.
My daughter (who's six) just started with a PB. It's probably not going to be as perfect a fit for her, since she seems to prefer hot lunch. I'm finding that it's much easier for me to pack a PB, even when I'm in morning-fog. Just fill all the little compartments, close and go!
(And no, I'm not affiliated with them in any way, just a satisfied customer.)
We keep it pretty simple and just take one container of leftovers each for lunch. We still use plastic containers because I haven't found a cheap alternative but I'm pretty sure they are BPA free, so that is something. I usually take a piece of fruit and some kind of baked good in a smaller container for a snack.
I love your small containers but I know I would not love washing them! Although some leak-proof sauce containers would be handy.
They're actually not bad to wash at all...a lot easier than the little plastic containers I used to use. Salad dressing and any other oily/greasy foods are really hard to wash off of plastic, but they come right off of the stainless steel.
Fun science fact: The reason that oily and/or greasy foods are darn near impossible to wash off plastic is because fats and plastics are very similar on a molecular scale. So they like to bond with each other and no matter what their parents' say, they want to stay together.
Haha, no I just hate washing up in general 🙂 I have tried using lots of containers for fancy lunches before and I just end up with a huge pile of stinky containers at the end of the week. So I stick to the bare minimum of one or two containers per day and try to wash them as I go. That's just what works for me.
Although I did check out the lunchbots website and they don't ship to Australia, so no salad dressing containers for me anyway 🙁
They stock them at these Aussie links: http://www.lunchbots.com/lunchbots-international-retailers.html
Thanks for that, I'll have to check them out 🙂 Although I think the teeny-tiny ones are only available online
At work I have access to fridge, microwave, sink and desk drawer. So I keep quite a collection: breakfast fixings, snacks, emergency lunch (canned soup), bowls, silverware, and a cloth towel for washing up. Daily I take lunch/fruit/veg with me in Tellfresh containers and a refresh of whatever desk staples have run out.
We use a combination of repurposed food packages (bags and containers) and plastic GladWare type containers. We haven't had the luxury, yet, to purchase nice glass containers for lunches. The most difficult containers to find are those that are leak-proof. I often pack soups and fruit sauces, and containers with good screw on lids are what work, but small ones are hard to find.
I had the same problem with the Anchor lids, so I emailed and complained. They sent new lids right away. But now my Pyrex lids are starting to crack, though I have had them for quite awhile. Hopefully I'll be able to find replacements. Along the same idea as your small stainless containers, I have quite a few Altoids tins that I use for things such as trail mix. They are the perfect size.
Love this, Kristen! I also send my husband with reusable food containers, though they're still plastic even though we switched to glass at home. He never eats hot lunch at work (too few microwaves!), so I'm not too worried about it, but it would be nice to send glass instead.
I've gotten so I adore sandwich wraps. I either use large cloth napkins (I got something like 20 at a yardsale years ago) or I make my own with polar fleece I have left over from another years old sewing project and fabric scraps I get in the sale bin at Joanns or at yardsales. Then I just have to wash them with the rest of my kitchen laundry.
I've started to use my Ball half pint jars for things like applesauce or soup as well, though I tend to use my freezer containers instead of the glass for my partner. I'm not sure how well he takes care of the glass.
When I was a child in school I used to bring a lunch box. I actually had this particular one: http://www.skooldays.com/categories/lunchboxes/lb1271.htm
(Go ahead and judge, it was awesome and still is!) and then I switched to brown paper bags which I was using before I moved a mile down the road from work.
I now go home for lunch and I've noticed that our plastic sandwich bag consumption has been cut way down. I think pretty soon it will go down to almost nothing.
I love packing a waste free lunch. It makes me feel so much better to pack all my dishes and silverware back into my bag at the end of the day rather than dumping a ton of packaging into my small office wastebasket and seeing how much stuff I just wasted. I also use Pyrex, and I have a large Lunchbots container (the Uno I think- one compartment) that I use when I pack cold food like lettuce wraps. I didn't know about those itty bitty Lunchbots tins for dressing and things like that- great news! I also check out yard sales and estate sales for cheap cloth napkins. I don't like to use my nicer linens for daily lunches, but when something costs 25 cents for 6 napkins that will last for a looong time, I feel okay getting them a little dirty.
We use mason jars for fridge storage and for lunches. Cheaper than pyrex and the lids are easy to replace. The cup-sized wide mouth jars are perfect for yogurt (I make our yogurt right in them), fruit, veggies, tuna salad, etc. The pint-sized wide mouth jars are great for most leftovers, and they even have little 4oz jars which are good for nuts and treats and such. I also use real stainless flatware in packed lunches - I bought some mismatched at a thrift store and use those for lunches so that when one gets lost I'm not too sad.
My husband has two cute little half-pint jars that go back and forth to work with him. He fills one with homemade applesauce and one with homemade yogurt with jam on top, and we top them with plastic lids like these:
http://www.amazon.com/1440037010-Ball-Plastic-Reuseable-Storage/dp/B001ASXIC8/
Have you seen them? They work great.
Mary, momma to many
Sometimes I can be so dumb. I've been racking my brains thinking about an alternative to plastic (which I'm trying to reduce) and glass (highly breakable!) for portable lunches for the kids. Duh! Stainless steel...better get hunting some down.
Ok just visited Lunchbots - seriously impressed... look's like I'm gonna be spending some cash...
In my experience Pyrex is great, but not for liquidy leftovers. I bought a set of glass Snapware Glasslock dishes at Costco over a year ago and have been incredibly impressed with them. I can pack soup in them and not worry at all about them leaking unlike my pyrex. Unfortunately when I looked at getting some more Snapware I found out that they had changed all of the shapes/sizes so they don't match the ones I have.
I really like the look of the little stainless containers.
Kristen what do you use for Mr. FG's lunchbox? I'm having "Goldilocks" syndrome with lunchboxes - either they are too small or too huge.
Also how and how often do you clean his lunchbox? I was washing by hand in the sink my older one and hanging out to dry. I did this once a week but somehow water got into the insulation and it became disgusting.
Thanks!
I love the teeny weeny LunchBots idea! It is SO hard to find small containers (why is that so?) so thanks for the heads-up.
We do use plastic silverware--the kids know to bring it home to be re-used--we have had it for years and will probably have it for years in the future. If it does accidentally get dumped in the school trash (I think that has happened maybe once), it isn't a crisis.
Looks like Mr. FG is a nibbler! I bring leftovers in a 1-quart glass container, or even giant salads in a 1.5-quart container! Plus raw veg (if not having salad) and yogurt with berries in a mason jar. To fit all this I use a little soft-sided "6-soda-can" size cooler.
I want you to pack my lunches!!! Thanks for the tips on non-plastic containers. I feel like it's time for me and my husband to switch over to glass containers.
I know! My thought salivating over the photos in this post is wow. I wish I had a Frugal Girl packing lunches for me 🙂
Thanks FG for another great post! Thank you for letting me know about Lunchbots and to the one lady who mentioned Planetbox lunchboxes!! What great eco-friendly products!!
I use a lot of Pyrex of lunches, but I've gotten into using reusable sandwich bags from Re-Pack. I love that they zipper and so have basically elimated our need for plastic bags, which is great. They have also been perfect for snack bags for my kids. I blogged about how we use them recently: http://thriftylivingde.blogspot.com/2012/08/its-giveaway.html
My husband doesn't bring home the containers - they end up in the lunch room, back seat of the car, etc. I know it's not green, but it's almost more frugal to send him with disposable bags than buy new containers.
I'm a huge fan of mason jars and I have a collection of various sizes. They are inexpensive and leakproof and I can microwave in them if necessary. I have one pyrex lidded bowl, too. I work in an office with dishware, a microwave, and a fridge, so carrying my glassware containers is no problem in my homemade felted lunch bag. I even knit little sleeves for my jars so they don't knock against each other during transport.
But glass is not permitted at my sixth grade daughter's school, and I've been looking for an affordable bento-style lunch box system for some time. The stainless ones are awesome, but pricey. Especially since she's now in 6th grade and I'm not sure if she'll be "too cool" to want to be seen with the stainless "cafeteria tray" style lunch system in Jr. High.
I found BPA free bento style lunch boxes at Cost Plus this weekend for just $4.99 each. I'm not a big fan of plastic, but this is definitely affordable and looks like it will hold up for the school year (I bought two, in case a part gets lost). These are very generous containers, and there's room in the bottom section for an ice pack if needed. We wrote up a list of foods to fill the box with, and my daughter is having fun packing attractive and healthy lunches for herself. She chose a salad with goat cheese and homemade dressing for her first day of school. There is a definite "cool factor" to these colorful boxes, and her friends are clamoring for their own now--we've started a trend!
One other thing about the mason jars is that I've invested in a hand held vacuum sealer so I can make up things like salad ahead of time and they will hold up for several days in the fridge. It makes lunch really "grab and go".
I have started using containers for everything, and bags as rarely as I can. I will use bags when I need to carry a snack in my pocket or something like that. I usually just do one-dish meals, so I take them out of the freezer or fix them up, grab some reusable silverware and fill my reusable water bottle. When I bring bread, I have to toast it that morning (wheat-free bread just has to be toasted or it is icky), so instead of paper towels, now I put a cloth napkin in the container to soak up any moisture, and throw one in as a regular napkin, and as a lunchbox liner (it makes it so much easier to keep the lunch box clean!!). I got my cloth napkins from cottagemom7 on Etsy. She has napkins and washcloths, but the only difference is 1 or 2 ply, so I got the 2 ply to last longer. They were very inexpensive and well made and great for all kinds of stuff. I feel so thrifty using them for everything instead of paper towels and napkins.
That's a lunch made with love
Another article about food waste today in the LA Times:
Americans trash as much as 40% of food, study says
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-food-waste-nrdc-20120821,0,7810321.story
My Pyrex containers leak a bit, so I have stuck with Ziploc styles and just don't use them for heated items. I have also invested in KangaSacs - they are zippable, washable, safe bags that come in a variety of sizes. I have used them for my kids for over a year now (and am pretty tough about them coming home, as they are a bit pricy), and love them. The school/daycare providers love them too, and they have been very sturdy. I can't recommend them highly enough: http://www.kangasac.com/
I've been doing litter less lunches for years, but definitely not plastic free! My little guy gets one glass container for his to-be-microwaved lunch, but the rest is in plastic or in cloth snack bags. Stainless won't work for him, yet; he needs to see what's in the container or he won't open it. For myself, well, weight is an issue...after I walk boy to preschool I carry on to my bus stop, with an eight block walk at the end. Glass is just too heavy. So I use plastic Rubbermaid containers (bpa and phthalate free) and transfer to a pretty plate I keep at work for the microwave. But stainless can go in the dishwasher, which might make it worth the switch.
I like the idea of making cozies for mason jars,of which I have lots. Another use for the stash!
I use tiny mason jars for salad dressings 🙂
Zulily.com (one of those sale aggregate sites) is having a lunchbots sale. It might be worthwhile to check out. It's the first I've heard of them and now it's twice in one day!
love zulily. thanks for the heads-up!
For dent-prevention on the stainless steel bottle & cup, I thought of a couple solutions. You could knit/crochet/sew sleeves for them (the first two things that came to mind to sew them from are the sleeves of a worn-out long-sleeve t-shirt or the calf of a tube sock) - beer koozies are often available free and could be cut to fit as well. You could also use Plasti-Dip to rubber-coat them. An uglier, but cheaper, solution would be to duct-tape thin packing foam to the outside.
I have two lunch packers. One has no access to any kind of facilities, so heating leftovers is not an option. We use a stainless steel thermos for soups and stews, wish there was an insulated container that could be used for hot, more solid things. We also use small canning jars with the plastic storage lids, but I'm going to use the suggestion of cozies for protection. I get the jars for $.25 at the thrift store. Thrift store cutlery and cloth napkins are kept with the lunch packing gear. The other lunch packer is in the last year of high school. Coolness counts there, but we have managed to get away from the brown bag by just using a pocket of the backpack. Lunch thefts (yeah, really - about once a month) prevent me from using any container I would be upset about losing, so we are stuck with the nasty bags for one more year. They do come home to be washed and reused, so we don't go through very many. With luck, the small box I bought this spring will last. Really like the stainless steel containers, though, especially the ones with the seal.
I love my Pyrex bowls and storage containers for mixing, leftovers, and hubby's lunch. We do use our Rubbermaid / Glad plastic containers on occasion but I'm trying to use them less often. Those Lunchbot items look sweet! When I need to get more containers I will definitely consider Lunchbot. Thanks for the recommendation. 🙂
Yes, those lunch bot containers are awesome!
Also, concur about Anchor and would add Martha Stewart brand, too, which I think might be manufactured by Anchor. I don't know why because they look just like the Pyrex ones, but they don't hold up.
ps - does anyone know how easy lunchbots are to open for young children? Just eyed up a nice on with 3 internal compartments for my 7-year-old? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
My 7 year old spilled a couple of times with lunch bots:( so we only use planetbox now. He loves it because it's so easy to use and he can see everything at once.