I have three girls packing a sack lunch to school everyday. For some reason adding Maren into the morning lunch routine this year got me to thinking....
About Ziploc baggies.
I figure I use about 4 Ziplocs per kid, per day (to hold sandwich, fruit, vegetable & chip or treat). That comes to 12 Ziplosc per day or 60 Ziplocs per week (wow!). Average cost is about 5 cents per Ziploc. That adds up to $3 per week - or roughly $108 per school year. That's a lot of money in plastic!
Actually, it's not really the money, but stuffing everything into those little bags every morning that got me thinking. Is there a better way? Do I always need a supply of Ziplocs on hand - what if I ran out? Is it wasteful for my kids to throw out so much trash after lunch everyday? I really hate stuffing food into those things every morning!
So, I got some inspiration from this cute blog,
another lunch, written by a mom who does amazing things with some pretty ordinary lunch items.
She gave me this idea... the metal lunch tray from
Planet Box.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIO-OOSNkeKs6C4jLPZdtjGbyPYYHCbx-EFzqwo2nfQb_TuVvyfWzzS2x64aSG5tEEwsZC4Hc0pUd2pSnh-1JKcpvAhgGlGkZKl40ZmcV7vtkU1FdWvd-Ej65h9oL3SYBxoKkwb9RBCP8/s400/bagel_500w_rc.png)
No more Ziplocs. Their cute little metal tray has individual compartments to keep food separated, closes into a nice little package, and is dishwasher safe. Unfortunately, it is a little out of my budget at $35. Maybe some day I'll splurge. In the meantime, I opted for a less expensive option...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3vTbzlOxHxKJ-J2W5BIG7MteqehHUkMWu6Z8efK3fZWrdVn468KSUzyiveA5aYic2TO0phvV_gLE8K6NKG0gRUJNLE8jPxeULfQprwjj36u6pJvmIkvmxrJzRLPcVh33f5ZS-Cq8xqXH/s400/SlimlineQuadieLunchboxAssorted_x.jpg)
This nifty little find from
The Container Store was only $10. It also has individual compartments, plus comes with a water bottle that fits perfectly into one of the pockets. The kids come home, clean out the crumbs and stack it on the counter for the next day. It's been a great alternative to the traditional sack lunch.
1 comment:
When I saw the top picture I was thinking holy cow, that is one great elementary school kids' lunch! Forget about the tray being expensive! Great idea! I use tons of ziplocks too. Maybe I should start rethinking some of my habits.
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