The Naked Lunchbox

Cutting waste from kids’ school lunches

Soon it will be back to school for the kids. Which of course, means new school clothes, supplies, backpacks, and even lunch boxes.

I have three children and packing that midday meal each morning is something I’ll admit to not enjoying much. While the school lunches offered in my district are as nutritionally sound as they can be, I prefer my children to have a homemade lunch whenever possible

So I pack, wrap and hermetically seal my children’s food as if they were going to the moon instead of down the road to our local elementary school. What can really go wrong on a bus ride that’s less than 2 miles? I keep on packin’ anyway. I put a sandwich in some aluminum foil or waxed paper; I add some carrot sticks in a small plastic baggie; a few cookies in another baggie and I add a juice box. All of this times 3, every day of the week, for a whole school year. When I’ve gone to meet the kids for lunch I’m completely awed by the amount of trash generated in just one lunch period. Empty milk cartons, disposable plates, sporks, aluminum foil and all of those baggies! There has to be a better way.

Then I came across a flier from a company called Obentec that made “waste-free” lunch boxes. I thought to myself, “Is this a gimmick to get my kids to eat everything on their plates?” No, this was even better. Obentec makes colorful rectangular boxes with different sized containers inside, eliminating the need for packaging, wrapping and sealing each food item. Absolutely no waste at all!

On Obentec’s website I found a link to wastefreelunches.org. Here I was disturbed to discover how much garbage we are actually generating every time we send a child to school with disposable wrapping: 67 pounds of waste per school year for a typical elementary school child. For an average sized elementary school, that works out to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste a year. The site also includes a cost comparison between disposable and waste-free lunches: A disposable lunch costs $4.02 per day as opposed to about $2.65 for a waste-free lunch. That is a savings of about $246.60 per child per year. Hey, I’ll take that!

While Obentec’s Laptop Lunch System is not cheap, I considered what I was getting. A reusable plastic “bento” style box with four individual containers, one with a cover for yogurt or spillable items, a small container for dressing or dip, a fork and a spoon (no sporks here!) and one 13 oz bottle for a drink. This all comes in an insulated carry-case with strap, pocket for a icepack and name tag. Obentec also gives you a great recipe and lunch idea book. The whole thing runs about $35.00. I spend close that in a month for one child’s school bought lunch so I knew that the initial investment for all three kids would certainly pay off in no time.

If you are anything like me, you are probably asking, “Plastic? I am not sure about that.” Well, I was concerned about that as well. The FAQ’s section of the Laptop Lunches site assures customers that the plastic used in these lunch kits are made from polypropylene and polyethylene, which are approved by the FDA for food use. Additionally, Obentec says that it does not use any plasticizers, binding agents, suspected carcinogens or endocrine disrupters in their plastics (no phthalates or bisphenol-A) and the carry case is lead free.

For those of us who want to avoid using plastic, Obentec does offer stainless steel lunch jars and drink bottles. In addition, there is an adorable all-in-one stainless steel lunch “box” made by ToGo Ware that comes with bamboo utensils. It’s modeled after the Indian Tiffin box and features two separate stacked food containers and a plate. Add a Sigg or KleanKanteen water bottle and a cloth napkin and you are all set! You can find ToGo Ware’s lunch kit at reusablebags.com.

When I brought home the Laptop Lunch system for my children they were so excited that they couldn’t wait to use them. They loved having a place for all their different food items and loved all the attention their new lunch boxes received from their friends and teachers even more.

Now packing the lunches is fun for me. I like to pack turkey and cheese wraps cut into four so they can fit into one of the larger containers. I add carrots in another container, some granola or almonds in another and fruit in the last. I fill up the bottle with water, milk or some juice, add a cloth napkin and an ice pack and I’m done. I also find it’s easier to use up my leftovers with this system. My son loves leftover meatloaf sandwiches and cold broccoli with a little ranch dressing as a dip.

I know my kids are eating better than before which is reason enough to do this. And, they tend to finish their lunch since I can pack more of a variety of foods. As for clean-up, I just rinse out the containers with some hot soapy water and leave them to dry on the rack. Since there are several components to each box that could get lost, I recommend writing your child’s name on each little container. I’ve had them for a year now and have not lost one!

It often just takes one person with some passion to take the initiative and make the first move with changes like this. After seeing other laptop lunch sets sprout at my kids’ school I plan to be that person this year. How about you?

References:
wastefreelunches.org (general info on waste-free lunches)
laptoplunches.com (bento-style lunch boxes)
flickr.com (for some really clever lunch ideas)
reusablebags.com (stainless steel lunch kits)
www.epa.gov/epaoswer/education/lunch.htm (educational resources)