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

These Neoprene totes are fabulous! They’re certainly big enough, at 12×12″ to hold most anything you might like to take for lunch, including leftover meatloaf…the whole loaf.

Made from insulating Neoprene, our Gourmet Getaway Tote accommodates many shapes and sizes of food and beverage containers, keeping them warm or cool.
• Gusseted base allows the tote to stand upright
• Comfortable, convenient handles for easy to transport
Image: ContainerStore.com

If you’ve been slacking about getting your kid’s lunch box – you’re almost out of time. In some states you are out of time, but we’ll assume you’ve got a couple of days. Here are some last minute lunch box options…
Concentrate Fruit Friendly Lunch Box from John Lewis – holds fruit safely! Very cool.

Lunch & Go Lunchbox from Aladdin.

Double Lunch Box (with name added) from Letterbox.

Find more… (including many eco-choices)

I love this lunch tote, and since it’s on sale, and it is back-to-school time, I figured I’d suggest it. Seriously, folks it’s on sale for UNDER $6. Yay.

This lunch tote is not available in orange anymore (sadness) but it is available in a spiffy green color. What I love is that it’s got cool storage features – like mesh pockets to hold food, and that cool clear pocket on the front. The clear pocket comes with a postcard of an artwork from MoMA’s collection, which is slick in itself, but I was thinking your child could also use it …read more