My oldest son started bringing his lunch to school this year. His draw-string mesh bag just wasn’t cutting it so I did lots of research to find the perfect eco-friendly solution. I initially considered some handmade fabric sandwich bags on Etsy, but I though they might end up getting fibers on food like cheese or cut vegetables. Although some options were lined with a plastic material which would solve this issue, I really wanted to stay away from plastic.

I decided to buy LunchBots stainless steel containers from Nayla Natural Care. This online shop has great customer service and it’s based in Ottawa so it’s relatively local to me. I bought both the Uno (that I use for for bread, muffins or rice cakes) and the Duo (I usually put meat or cheese in one half and fruit or vegetables in the other half). Even though LunchBots are made in China, they are manufactured responsibly. I had read that the lid has a snug fit and I was a bit worried my son would have trouble opening it (I imagined the lid flying off and food everwhere!), but he can open the container just fine.

Next up was a new lunch bag. This was a tough one to find. So many lunch bags I saw seemed a bit too feminine or babyish for my 7-year-old son. I finally found the camo/black ACME Bags™ 100% Made in USA Insulated Lunch Bag and it received the thumbs up from my son and met all the criteria I was looking for (insulated, manufactured responsibly, eco-friendly). The LunchBots can fit flat in the bottom of this lunch bag (yay!), and the non-toxic freezer pack keeps my son’s food nice and cold until lunch time. I was happy with the customer service at ReusableBags.com too. I had a question about shipping and received a prompt reply. I also found a promo code (FREEACME50) online and got a free ACME bag with my order.

Technorati Tags: school lunches, eco-friendly lunch containers, kids lunch bag, made in USA, trash-free lunches, LunchBots, stainless steel lunch containers