Avoiding our own landfill- Lunch containers for our brood

I think it was around the time we had 4 kiddos packing lunches off to school that I realized Ziploc baggies and paper sacks just were not cost effective anymore. Not to mention I started to feel guilty about the amount of waste we were creating. For some reason my kids always brought all of their little baggies back home at the end of the day. Just looking at the amount of trash coming home was overwhelming. I really did feel like I was creating my own personal landfill. This was also the time that I started getting brave about our menu selection. I had always wanted to send hot and cold lunches to school but didn't think I could pull it off.

Buying our lunch containers was the first scary step. I consider myself frugal and buying thermos containers was a financial commitment in my mind. If I bought them, I had to use them. I also wasn't sure about bento boxes. Even with just 4 kiddos taking school lunches the thought of increasing our number of dishes was not appealing. But I finally took the plunge and was pleased to find it was not as scary as I had expected.

Over the years I have changed equipment a few times. I am pretty happy with our current system. So I won't waste your time sharing about the evolution. But there is an abundance of options out there and everyone is going to have different favorites. These are the ones I like for now.

First off, we use a few supplies in our lunches that make a big difference: dip cups, press and seal wrap and plastic utensils.

Two ounce disposable dip cups are at Walmart or we order them online. I get our press'n seal and plastic utensils at Winco.

Thermos brand containers for hot lunches has changed the landscape of our school menu selection. I had always wanted to send hot lunches to school. I just didn't think it would work. With these beauties it totally does! I use these for soups, pasta, rice bowls, etc. These containers work really well and meals stay warm all the way through the school day. They are also a fantastic little cheat for snow trips. A short day can include hot chocolate. A long day can include a soothing warm lunch that wont break the bank.

We got these at Walmart a couple years ago. I have still seen them there recently.

Bento boxes and Tupperware. I have a few different types. The first set I used in lunch boxes came from Walmart. The only thing I don't like about these is they leak. I use press and seal wrap anytime there is something with liquid (think strawberries or watermelon or saucy foods like salad). The newest batch came with our lunch boxes from Costo. You will see them in our lunch posts. The largest of the three containers holds liquids just fine. I still use the press and seal when needed on the little containers.

Most of these came from Walmart. I still use these to pack lunches on the go. But these are no longer our school lunch containers. Our current set came in the lunch boxes from Costco. You will see them in the lunch posts. 

We have been through several different lunch boxes and our current set is the one I like the best. I appreciate the zippers and sturdy handle. I like the foil thermal material. And best of all is the ice packs. They are easy to use and they keep food cold the entire school day.

We got ours on sale at Costco.

One thing our family of 10 needs for packed lunches is an easy-access place to keep all this stuff. In our old home I kept a rolling cart next to my refrigerator for all of our lunch supplies.

This worked great in the old house. 

Our current home has a super handy little shelf at the end of the counter that fits everything perfectly. Having this storage be extra accessible to the kids is key. In a family of 10 they need to take care of their own equipment so the burden does not fall on one mom person.

When my kids arrive home from school they are supposed to walk directly into the kitchen, put their ice packs into the freezer, empty any left over food into the trash can, put their food containers into the sink and put their lunchboxes back onto the shelves. Most of them do this without prompt most days. We are big on natural consequences in our family. So if the ice packs don't get put away and their lunch the next day is warm and soggy or they didn't put their containers away so they end up with smaller or messy portions in alternate containers, they remember very quickly to get their things put away.

The only down side to using containers like this is the consequence for not getting the dishes done. We are pretty diligent about running that dishwasher before dinner. But on the once-every-other week occasion we forget or get too busy, mom and dad get a natural consequence of their own. I am not a fan of hand washing lunch containers at 5:30 in the morning because the kids did what they were supposed to do and I did not... Aside from that one risk, I love our current lunch set up.