Ever had your brown-bagged organic peanut butter & jelly sandwich get flattened into a mushy pancake? Then it’s time to get a pretty reusable lunch carrier. Those disposable brown bag lunches, after all, are a constant, trash-creating money drain — and don’t look particularly stylish or cute, either. Thus — My five favorite lunch boxes and carriers:
Japanese Bento Box made of Cedar. Though the cedar doesn’t appear to be FSC-certified, this gorgeous bento box, coated with urushi coating, seems like a pretty alternative to plasticky stuff. The one downside is that the box isn’t dishwasher or microwave safe — but the box is really too pretty to be used in these machines anyway. The product’s made in China and Japan and available at Life Without Plastic for $59.95.
Built NY Fugu Insulated Lunch Tote. I own and love this lunch tote — but don’t use it much now since I work at home. If you already have plenty of good reusable containers and just need a bag to carry it in, this stretchy neoprene tote’s perfect — since a side pocket fits your reusable mug too. Get it at Amazon for $19.90 — or at Sur La Table and some Whole Foods.
Zojirushi Mr. Bento Stainless-Steel lined Lunch Jar. If you need to keep food hot or cold, Zojirushi lunch boxes are cute and handy and come in many different sizes. Yes, there’s some plastic in these — but apparently the containers are BPA-free. My mom used to pack my lunches in these when I was a kid. Best part: They come with a pair ‘o reusable chopsticks! Amazon has this model for $36.
Laptop Lunch Bento System 2.0. Made blog-famous by Vegan Lunch Box, this cute system comes with everything you need: a carrying case (less wacky designs are available), reusable water bottle, stainless steel utensils, and a user’s guide. The downside is that the system is very plasticky, but all surfaces are safe from lead, BPA and phthalates. Plus, the outer material’s made of 100% recycled polypropylene fabric. Get it at Laptop Lunches for $39.99.
To-Go Ware Lunch Kit. This cute stainless steel kit comes with 2 food containers that snap together, a removable plate, plus a set of sustainably-harvested bamboo utensils — all totable in a carrycase handmade in Thailand by a Fair Trade women’s cooperative. Get the whole kit at Reusable Bags for $39.95, or bits and pieces of the kit for less at both Reusable Bags or Life Without Plastic. To-Go Ware also comes in 1 or 3-tier sizes.
As for reusable utensils: Of course a nice eco-nomical option’s simply to tote the silverware you’ve already got at home. In addition, some of the lunch boxes and totes above already come with their own forks and spoons and chopsticks — most of which you can buy separately too.
For the most compact fork-knife-spoon set, try Sigg’s portable stainless steel cutler set (above, $19.99). Bamboo fans can also opt for a more compact bamboo utensil set from To-Go Ware, which comes in a holder made of recycled PET plastic (below, $9.95).
If you only need chopsticks — or simply want a more compact pair to tote around with you all the time so you never have to use those disposable pairs at sushi restaurants – L.A.’s Japanese American National Museum offers a collapsible stainless steel pair ($10), as does REI (with recycled birch wood from old baseball bats! $29.95). Enjoy your zero-waste lunch!
Earlier:
>> Bring your own bag: How to BYOB in easy eco-style
>> Bring your own cup and mug: An eco-stylish money-making habit
Photos via Life Without Plastic, Amazon, Laptop Lunches, and REI
I have the Mr. Bento and I’m in love with it. It’s a great inspiration for packing better lunches.
Rachel (Heart of Light)’s last blog post..The weekend, briefly
Comment by Rachel (Heart of Light) — July 13, 2009 @ 11:00 am
I also bought a soft-sided lunch box last year, which has inspired me to take my lunch more often, since it’s purple and cute! Have you seen the reusable sandwich bags and sandwich “wrappers”? A company makes them, but so do some people on Etsy. I hope to get those soon!
Comment by MsMeryMac — July 13, 2009 @ 1:37 pm
Hi Siel! Agree that the Built NY products are cute, but am curious how you feel about the whole PVC thing. I am assuming you’ve done more research on the subject than I, but when I looked into different lunch totes and finally decided on the one I own (Toto by Kelty, which at the time of purchase a year ago was tagged as having an interior made of recycled plastic, though curiously, on the website I no longer find that indicated) I was definitely wary of that whole debate. Have been on the lookout for something similar to the To-Go Ware lunch kit so can’t wait to check it out! Thanks!
Comment by Katrina — July 13, 2009 @ 2:46 pm
I’ve been taking my Laptop Lunchbox to work four days a week or so for two years, and I love it. On the other hand, I haven’t been all that happy with the To-Go Ware cutlery set I carry in my bag all the time — the spoon’s too shallow, the fork and knife too blunt.
You can get tiffin boxes (like the To-Go Ware set) in Indian grocers for much less. At least a couple of times, I’ve seen the exact same product — manufacturer, specifications, and labeling.
Comment by meg — July 13, 2009 @ 5:13 pm
MsMeryMac — Those sandwich wrappers are indeed better looking — and I think easier to use — than those disposable plasticky thingies :)
Katrina — Just to clarify, the Built NY products are made with neoprene, not PVC. I’m not sure if you meant they were in your comment, but wanted to clarify in case a reader thought so. Anyway, yes, PVC should not be used in any food-related function — or really any function. Avoid PVC-containing lunchboxes!
meg — Good to know about cheaper boxes, though I do tend to like a brand guarantee behind the materials used (and the safety of them). Still, if they’re made by the same manufacturer the same way….
Comment by Siel — July 13, 2009 @ 5:32 pm
Hi Siel, Great blog! We’re thrilled to read your post on eco-friendly lunch tools. There are more and more alternatives out there to the ubiquitous unsafe plastic containers, so it’s wonderful that you’re helping spread the word with solid reviews. Of course, we’re very happy that you like our bento box too — you’re not alone, it’s a popular one, as are our variety of tiffins and other stainless lunch containers (including the super popular airtight ones). As for the cedar used to make the box, you raise an excellent point – we too are not sure if it is FSC-certified, but we intend to find out. We do test our products, so we know it is food-safe. The boxes are actually carved and put together in China and then returned to Japan for application of the urushi lacquer and final careful quality control.
Thanks for doing what you do.
All the best,
Jay
Comment by Jay — July 13, 2009 @ 6:34 pm
I have the 3 layer to-go ware tiffin and I love it! The taller/more narrow footprint fits in my bag well and it’s big enough to fit my lunch and some afternoon snacks. It’s easy to clean by hand or in the dishwasher. I keep a ceramic mug at work to give myself the flexibility of warming up food if necessary. I’ve received countless compliments on it. I like the bamboo To-Go ware cutlery set with it so I don’t have metal utensils hitting a metal surface. To-go ware also makes small metal snack containers (sidekicks), which I’m also a big fan of.
I had questions and an issue with my To-Go Ware and the company provided an excellent customer service experience. (I ordered directly from To-Go Ware: http://www.to-goware.com/)
M’s last blog post..Book Review – The Organic Food Shopper’s Guide
Comment by M — July 13, 2009 @ 7:13 pm
Thanks for clarifying! I don’t know where I had heard, but for some reason I was under the impression that there might be PVC in the Built NY products. I suppose it doesn’t help that their product specs on their site never say PVC-free, especially for people like me who were initially freaked by the notion that it may be in my wetsuit (also made of neoprene).
Comment by Katrina — July 13, 2009 @ 7:29 pm
I love the Zojirushi–so adorable! However, I too have found that sometimes the cutlery in lunch containers leaves something to be desired. Clearly not the sigg–that stuff looks intense! I just keep a fork and spoon from home stashed in my office drawer.
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Comment by Rosemary — July 13, 2009 @ 9:53 pm
Thanks for stopping by, Jay. I have a feeling Life Without Plastic will soon become one of my fave stores — You’ve got some very cute AND functional stuff!
Katrina — I can see how you got confused…. Usually, the PVC-free label’s used on products that look like they could be made with PVC (i.e. shower curtains).
Rosemary — I was seriously considering the Sigg cutlery cuz it’s so nice and compact! By intense, do you mean that it just looks kinda scary cuz it’s so metallic and in the shape of a swiss army knife?
Comment by Siel — July 20, 2009 @ 5:51 pm
Hi Siel, Great blog! We’re thrilled to read your post on eco-friendly lunch tools.
Moni´s last blog ..Healthy Lunchbox Ideas
Comment by Moni — June 23, 2010 @ 11:51 pm
Hi Siel,
thanks for this great information – and your blog in general. I only just recently learned about tiffins from the Ten Thousand Villages website. Their tiffins are produced by Noah’s Ark, a fair trade co-operative in India so I thought folks might also be interested in checking those out. I’m actually doing research on them as we’re trying to place a very large wholesale order. I love the environmental aspects of the tiffins, but was wondering if you could comment on the sourcing. Do you know where those you’ve mentioned on your site are made and under what conditions?
Thanks so much,
Phyllis
probinson@equalexchange.coop
http://www.SmallFarmersBigChange.coop
Comment by Anonymous — July 7, 2010 @ 12:20 pm