Living Greener Series Part 2 - Lunches

Two weeks in to your 2009 New Year's resolutions to live a more eco-responsible lifestyle for the sake of your budget, your health, and the planet, your aura is probably glowing kelly green. OK, perhaps, it just resembles a ripe lime. Or, at least a very respectable chartreuse. Not to worry, you've got the whole year to get the family up to speed on greener living.

Drastic changes work as well as crash diets and last about as long as Britney's first marriage. Instead, implement small changes into your weekly repertoire, one by one. Focus on a single tactic until it becomes habit, before adding the next. You'll be able to spread out any upfront costs and the repetition become ingrained into your daily routine.

One of the easiest lifestyle adjustments with the greatest impact of reducing waste is modifying your lunch routine. Whether you find yourself bringing a sack lunch to eat at your desk while you work through your lunch hour or send the kids to school with a nutritious homemade lunch, there are simple easy steps you can take towards achieving the Three R's:

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

A typical school lunch often consists of the following: a sandwich, fruit, bag of chips and a dessert (each stored in a single use plastic zip lock bag), a cold drink in a disposable container, and a paper napkin all carried in a plastic or paper bag that ends up in a trash can.

According to the US Dept of Education, American schools average 180 days of instruction per year. The average adult working full time outside the home puts in 260 working days. That means the average American family of four with two kids in school and two working parents discard at least 880 disposable drink containers, 880 lunch sacks, and as many of 2640 plastic baggies - just for lunches alone. While many of those items can be recycled, don't forget recycling efforts consume energy. Reduce what you can, then recycle what remains.

America's favorite 1970's homemaker, Carol Brady sent Mike and the Brady kids off to school every morning with a thermos and cool (reusable) metal lunch pail. And you can bet that June Cleaver didn't send the Beav off to school with a plastic juice box to toss into the trash.

Striving for a happier family and a healthier planet often means making what was old new again. For each member of your family, consider investing in a cool reusable lunch kit with would make Carol and June proud!

• Start with a stainless steel, BPA-free, resuable water bottle by Klean Kanteen. 880 water bottles at even $0.50 a piece is costing you $400 each year. Many single use drink containers are not recyclable, and only a fraction of those that eligible are actually recycled.
• Replace your reliance on plastic baggies with reusable sandwich and snack containers. The Wrap N Mat was invented by a Colorado mom. It uses velcro to secure a reusable cloth around your sandwich and comes in several colors. It keeps your BLT fresh and even doubles as a sanitary place mat.
• Add in a Snack Sack to hold crackers, chips, or cookies. This mom invented cloth sack has a draw string top to secure contents. It even comes with a carabiner to clip the snack to backpacks or duffle bags for hikes or soccer games, besides being a great addition to your lunch kit.
• Don't forget a set of reusable silverware made from sustainable bamboo by Bambu. Available in adult, child or infant sizes, as well as chopsticks and sporks for sushi and small bites.
• Complete your lunch kit with a reusable lunch sack such as the ECObags lunch sack made from recycled cotton, the colorful, water resistant Handy Sack by Generation Baby or the insulated Lunch Tote by Built NY.
  

For a fraction of what you are currently spending to send your family with a disposable lunch from home, you can outfit your family with cool, colorful, safe, reusable gear that not only work for lunches, but sports, picnics, bike rides, and family outings, and will last for years. You'll save money and reduce needless waste.