I promise, I’m not going all “Environmentalist Wacko” on you. But I have always been a “Practical Greenie”. I believe in conserving resources, growing my own food or buying as much as I can locally, not using pesticides unless I have to (my weed-infested lawn is a testament to that!). I use cloth grocery bags as much to keep plastic out of landfills as to keep my house from being overrun with the infernal plastic devils.
I also use these. They’re called “Lunchskins”, and yes, I will be the very first one to admit that approximately $8.00 per bag is pricey. But you know what? My kid steadfastly refuses to throw away packaging. For the last two years he has brown-bagged his lunch almost every day – paper lunch bag, sandwich and treats enclosed in Ziplock bags. And every one of those days, he brought that same paper lunch bag home, with the used Ziplock bags inside. He brings home used pudding cups. My sister-in-law gave him pre-printed zip-seal bags (generic Ziplocks) with Cars Characters on them, and I had to SNEAK them into the garbage when the picture started to disappear and the bags started falling apart. Yeah, the boy’s a nut.
So I made the Executive Mommy decision, and invested in one of those insulated lunch bags, and I bought four Lunchskins – two “sandwich” size, and two “snack” size. And I love them.
We use the snack size bags most – he takes a half sandwich, some sort of fruit, and sometimes a sweet snack with him. Usually it’s only the sandwich + 1, so I use the two snack bags. The sandwich size, I’m reserving for when his appetite grows a bit. But let me tell you, these bags are everything they’re advertised to be on the site.
They’re durable, bright, and washable. They say, on the site, that they’re dishwasher-safe, but I find it easier and quicker to just give them a little hand-scrub with the dinner dishes, and hang them over the faucet handles to dry overnight.
The Velcro closures are solid. I put almost anything in them – sandwich, fruit (like apples or grapes), chips, or cookies. Only thing I would not put in is something that has leakage potential… not sure right now what that would be, but they don’t seal completely like a Ziplock does.
The best thing? I’ve cut WAY DOWN on my plastic use. I’m not buying plastic sandwich bags anymore. Oh, sure I still use those around the house when a Tupperware won’t fit the bill, but by far, my biggest use for the disposable bags was lunch. And I’m guessing that these Lunchskins are going to last through a couple years of school at least, which for me, makes the high price tag much more tolerable.
So, if you are a brown-bagger or of you have them in your family, and you’re willing to shell out a coupla bucks to keep stuff out of the landfills, go for it. They’re worth it!
Us Girls..Our Views 
OMG!!!! These are wonderful. I just love them. I know I’ll buy a few. I hate all the plastic too that gets wasted. I wish I could remember bags when I go to the store. I’m bad about it. I do recycle but I’m so forgetful.
Thanks. These are great.
Well isn’t that a neat idea and don’t you wish you would’ve thought of it first?!
My boys were the opposite of Josh though. Their lockers at the end of the year were YUCKY!!!! I would have worked out a deal though. Some kind of going to the DQ or something if they’re brought home everyday.
We like to use the plastic take-away containers for leftovers as well as my lunch for work. I always think of getting those cloth grocery bags when I am not at the grocery store somehow they always get forgotten when we are there.
I am a reuser. I hate buying something that is going to go in the garbage after one use. So, call me crazy, but I rinse and re-use ziplock sandwich bags. Many times. I pack my kids’ dinner most days, to eat on the road. Cut veggies, sandwich, snack crackers, stuff like that. With the ziplock bags, I can either fold them up and put them in my back pocket, or toss them. That way my hands remain free for the rest of the outing, and I don’t have to worry about forgetting the stuff (the main reason I don’t carry a purse or invest in a “green” lunch bag).
I like the idea of the product you are describing above, except that I think it might be unusual to have a kid who actually returns home every day with all of their lunch debris. I would rather spend $1 for a box of ziplocks and re-use them each about 8 times, and not be too worried about whether each and every one finds its way back home.
My sister has been laughing at me ever since she first saw my ziplocks drying in the dish drainer. “I thought you were doing OK financially.” Well, how do you think I built up a nest egg? Not by throwing perfectly good stuff in the garbage.
I think these reusable bags are great! I make my lunch also at home and use the little containers, you get when you buy ham or chicken for sandwiches. I have already a lot of those containers. So now I buy fresh ham and chicken, and store them in those containers. And talking about greeny person. I have my own bags when I go do my groceries. I cannot imagine, that it hasn’t become a “law” her in California, to ban the plastic bags from the stores.
I may have to look into getting these.
Our first and third graders pack their own lunches each day. I make their sandwich and they pack their fruit, chips, drink and sweet treat. We have those cookie cutter things so our son likes for me to cut him a snowman, Christmas tree or penguin shape out of his sandwich (he still takes the remainder too). I use a tupperware sandwich container for their sandwich. And although at the time we are using snack size Zip Lock bags I think I will try to find these bags. They also take either manderine oranges or apple sauce each day. We have half cup plastic bowls with screw on tops for that.
The thing that gets me is that someone is stealing their spoons at school. We started with them taking plastic spoons then our regular small spoons and now I can’t find but just a few spoons. I asked them about it and they said they are bringing their spoons home each day, so I know some kid is waiting for them to turn their head during lunch to steal their spoons. I invision some kid with a big pile of spoons stashed under his/her bed at home just snickering over them. 🙂
I don’t have a Spoon Thief at Josh’s school, but from the outset, I just went and bought a box of plastic spoons when I realized that I’d be sending him with fruit-in-a-cup. Figured that he’d mostly be bringing the spoons home, and if he didn’t, well, at least it’s not my good spoons that are getting lost.
Oh I will for sure buy these. What a great idea. Bailey is on an apple kick right now, but I’m sure he’ll be back to taking his crackers soon, for a while anyway.
I hate wasting plastics, and papers. I very rarely even buy them. Bailey will use, and bring home his baggies. I got him doing that a long time ago. But these are just cool, and eco-friendly. Which I’m ALL for. Thank you Laura!
I had to laugh this morning, Laura, when I opened up my kids’ lunch boxes from yesterday (yeah, I was a little busy last night!) and found they had both brought their garbage home with them! LOL! These are neat and since my kids don’t bring cold lunch every day I could handle having to wash them out. I hate trying to clean the lunch boxes!
Great Idea! I’ve never seen these before they would be perfect for Navars lunches. I will be ordering a few. Thanks for the link. Bright cheerful colors as well, it’s a good idea.
I’ve never seen these either.. and they look awesome!! Thanks for spreading the word. I love reusing things and absolutely hate using plastic baggies!!