As a member of the founding executive team for the  first eco department store in North America, I have been a long time advocate for all things environmentally friendly …whether toxin free personal care products or cleaning solutions, to waste diversion options to suit everyone’s busy lifestyles.

It was very challenging yet fun to curate an extensive selection of eco friendly options that showed that you can have environmentally responsible and healthy options without compromising performance or style. As the executive determining the assortment to assess the legitimacy, transparency, passion and commitment to my product manifesto, I must say I have come across some rather astonishing toxin free and environmentally responsible brands.

At this time of year, and 2020 more so than ever, parents everywhere are in the throes of preparing the kids for back to school. After lockdowns, home schooling and the trepidation of what the new school year will bring, I can share some truly fabulous options for making that back to school litterless lunch selection easy.

Naturally, it is important to consider a few things in all elements of the lunch bag:

• No PVC
• No phthalates
• No BPA material in any portion of the product
• Ideally, if it can be made from recycled plastic ( amazing technology here), an environmentally mindful brand, or can be re-purposed in any way, these all are but a few ways we can be not only diverting waste, but to do so in a responsible manner

 The Lunch Bag

The lunch bag… always the big decision as it will be battered about, and on occasion forgotten. Here’s to making it special. There is a myriad of lunch bag options out there in a variety of sizes, but Bentology  brings an element of whimsy that will make lunch time fun ( and the lunch bag easy to identify if “forgotten” at school 😉 ). This lunch bag had a wide variety of designs sure to suit every taste. It is fully insulated with an inside mesh pocket and a front expandable pocket for extra things and to keep things separate as well as a side pocket for a drink bottle means this bag meets form with function

Bento Boxes

Many kids are grazers ( as am I truth be told), and so the bento box is a fabulous option to do portion control as well as offer great bits and bites to fulfill their nutritional needs.

Skip Hop for the young and young at heart has some super cute designs with easy to manage snap opening for little hands.

For the older kids or those that want a cool vibe to their lunchbox , the Rover stainless steel lunchbox from PlanetBox is a sturdy option that you can customize with their wide range of magnetic designs.  Stainless steel is a bit tough on the budget compare to the other options, but it is long wearing, super easy to clean and pretty much indestructible in the schoolyard. What I love about Planet Box is they have a vast array of magnetics accents for you to choose and personalize your specific bento box…seriously, how fabulous is that?

Wrapping the goods

I have always tried to minimize my use of any plastic film wrap in my kitchen by using beeswax papers. How cute (and special!) for the kidlettes to have their own designs for those specially wrapped sandwiches.   Nature Bee has a great selection sure to suit every colour preference.  What’s super cool too is that you can create your own custom design…a great gift idea!)

Bagging it

For reusable snack bags, I have been a long time fan of Colibri.   A Canadian sister duo (the brand previously known as the Sling Sisters), they have been huge advocates of the zero waste movement for  many years. Not only do they have a wide selection, but the designs are adorable. I do have to admit, I have had a number of their designs in my ‘snacking on the go’ and Christmas stocking stuffers over the years.

Easy straw options

Lets talk about straws. Yes, many governments around the world have mandated their exit, but hmmm… they still seem to be available.   According to Eco-Cycle, a US organization, 500 million straws are being used daily.   How do you visualize this? 500 million straws will fill 127 standard school buses.

         A       DAY

And that is simply a US statistic.   When you roll that out globally the impact is simply mind boggling.I have been on the glass straw and travel straw bandwagon pretty much since they were available on the market. It just makes sense.For the back to school group, convenience and transportability is key.

That’s why I love this Auma 4-pack straw set. I like the different colours within the pack so each child can have their designated colour(s)

As many prepare for back to school in these trying times, I hope I have given you some great environmentally friendly options to make litterless lunch choices a little simpler.

Keep well, stay safe and here’s to a new school year!

Xo – Sandra

Photo credits:

Classroom via Pixabay and emmaws4s

Product images:

Bentology

Skip Hop

Planet Box

Nature Bee

Colibi

Auma