Do you trash the planet with your kid’s lunch?

I’ve written about my “Ah-Ha” moment last year (PI, PII), small things to start on, saving water, and recycling so one of my next moves was to examine what I send with my child to school in his lunch. After such examination, I was in a quandry: lunch-making in the morning needs to be as simple as possible. Ziploc baggies and pre-wrapped items are just that: EASY.

EASY is nice, but it won’t save the Earth.

So, I let go of EASY, had a small mourning period, and started brainstorming how I could make a lunch that he could take to school and not end up trashing the planet. How much waste do your childrens’ lunches produce? Sandwich and snack baggies, chip and pre-made food containers and wrappers, napkins, plastic utensils, saran-wrap, juice bottles, juice boxes. The list is endless. Not only are you sending trash to school with your child, but most of the pre-wrapped EASY items are heavy on the trash. For example, lunch chips come in individual bags, in a box, wrapped in plastic. And just by purchasing that item, you are telling the manufacturer YES. Buy the big bag of chips and put a handful in a tupperware and send that. Why use individual bags of chips that can’t be recycled?

These are the changes I made to my son’s lunch:

re-usable lunchbox
re-usable drink bottle for water
square re-usable container for sandwich
small round re-usable container for apple slices and carrot sticks

I chose to use tupperware-type items for his lunch. But I did lots of research and there are other great re-usable items – check out the link! I also shot off a few emails to various manufacturers. I am just a little voice, but if you join me as a Mother Fighting for Others – you can help make a big voice. Stop saying YES to manufacturers who make products that are harmful to the earth or just plain aren’t recyclable. (By the way, products that are usually harmful to the earth are also usually harmful to humans – just think of the BPA found in plastics).

Here is my letter to Ziploc:

“I really like the ease of use Ziploc offers, but lately, I have a hard time putting 2-3 bags in my kids lunch each day

knowing that they are going into the trash. Schools need better recycling programs for lunch waste, but has Ziploc considered making their bags recyclable? If they currently are, why aren’t they marked with the “triangle”? I’m tempted to start putting my kid’s lunch in re-usable tupperware containers so I can feel better about my daily imprint on this earth. What you have in me is a consumer who isn’t afraid of a lifestyle change to make this a better earth for our kids. Please consider changing your products to help me in my fight. Sincerely, Cecily –”

Take a minute, mourn EASY and then make changes today!