Lunch Money

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. 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...

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.