Waste-Free Lunches estimates that most packed lunches for school alone creates about 67 pounds of waste per school year (that’s about 19,000 lbs of waste per each average elementary school). However, kids aren’t the only ones eating packed lunches. Many adults take their lunches to work. Some college students even make it a point to pack a healthy snack or lunch – and this creates waste as well. Especially if you’re using disposable plastic baggies, paper napkins, and other disposable containers.

One way around this issue is to buy reusable lunch gear. There are TONS of reusable lunch options for kids …read more

Waste-Free Lunches estimates that the average child with a take-to-school lunch creates a whopping 67 pounds of waste per school year (that’s about 19,000 lbs of waste per each average elementary school). School lunches are full of waste. Some typical culprits…

Paper or plastic lunch bags and containers.
Snack packs of cookies, crackers, pudding cups, fruit cups, jello cups, and raisins.
Juice boxes, juice bottles, bottled water, or worse hard to recycle squeeze novelty drinks.
Plastic baggies, foil, and plastic wrap for all sorts of foods.
Lunchables or other building lunch kits.
Paper napkins and plastic silverware.

This year green it up …read more

Cloth napkins. They are a step up from paper, aren’t they?  A little bit fancy, a whole greener, fabric napkins are a good kitchen investment.
Here’s a cute set of 4 cloth napkins from WeeBeaks Etsy shop. They are a festive 2-tone pink batik, that is washer/dryer safe, but skip the bleach if you want to keep them bright. They measure 14 inches square or 35.5 cm.

Cotton Candy Swirls Batick Cloth Napkins, Set of 4
$15.00
Check out WeeBeak’s shop for more colors and patterns. 
Image credit: WeeBeak at Etsy.com

Once you try cloth napkins for everyday use, you’ll grow attached quickly. As cloth napkin user, I can tell you firsthand that the advantages far outweigh the added laundry.

I love cloth napkins because they . . .
• feel better on your lips
• don’t crumble up into a wet mess
• eliminate an item from your shopping list: paper napkins
• save money
• are expressive to use with a wide variety of styles
• look pretty sitting in a basket
• are environmentally friendly
Cloth napkins are easy to care for if you chose wisely. Reserve fancy, expensive napkins for special occasions and guests. All you …read more

At my house we have exactly five pull out kitchen drawers.
I use…

one for silverware
one for long utensils and the rolling pin
one for most of the cloth napkins
one for extra fish stuff (my son has two pet fish)

That leaves one semi-shallow drawer, which I need for kitchen linens like dishtowels, clean up towels, and the napkins that didn’t fit in the actual napkin drawer.
The issue is that all of these pull out drawers are shallow. Only one is big, and it practically sits right on the floor. I keep the fish stuff in that one because I don’t want to …read more