Day 10: Creating your own reusable lunch kit

Day 10: Creating your own reusable lunch kit

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Clara del Rey // 3 July 2015 // #GoingGreen #WasteNot

How do you like my reusable lunch kit? | (c) Clara del Rey 

How do you like my reusable lunch kit? | (c) Clara del Rey

Nothing about the consumption habits of our society saddens me more than a take-away shop and the ready-made meal section of the supermarket. What a waste of plastic and resources! The solution to this enormous waste issue couldn’t be, on the other hand, easier: get a waste free lunch kit, plan your meals ahead, and cook them at home. You will quickly appreciate the beneficial results of this new habit as you’ll drastically reduce your waste, eat much healthier, and save a lot of money.

A plastic free, reusable lunch kit is very easy to assemble.

  1. You will need, of course, an airtight container. I got a stainless steel container online for my cold meals, and I simply use a glass jar for the hot ones (so I can conveniently reheat it in the microwave).
  2. Be sure to get a spoon and a fork. I got my trendy “spork” as a gift from Travel Well Magazine and Life Without Plastic, but before that I simply used to take a pair from home and put them in my backpack. You can use this every time you buy some snacks or ice cream on the street, refusing to take plastic ones (I agree, it may feel a bit odd at first, but why not give it a try if you carry them with you anyway?).
  3. Always take a cotton napkin with you.
  4. Make or buy a fabric case for your sandwich. Mine was also a present and is made from linen, but you’d be surprised with the ideas of people online. They make very cool cases with old pillow cases or dresses!
  5. Finally, get a reusable bottle to refill with water, tea, coffee, or your homemade drink (mine is just a lemonade glass bottle my sister bought last December). There are plenty of options, for example, glass or stainless steel bottles. Whichever you choose, you should definitely avoid the little plastic cups on the water cooler, and consider stopping buying drinks bottled in plastic. Even if you can recycle some of them, remember that the best way to help the environment is to reduce!

So, why don't you make your own reusable lunch kit? The Nourishing Gourmet blog has some really stylish alternatives to your usual plastic containers and snack bags. Also, if you rather would like to create your own unique snack kit, take a look at this tutorial on creating reusable snack bags.

 


Clara del Rey, the winner of the travel well MAGAZINE's #WasteNot 30-day challenge , was invited to share her favorite ideas on reducing trash. Clara, a Spanish native, taught in St. Joseph, Missouri (USA), and is now living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Not only does she know both the U.S. and the European perspective on sustainability, but her ideas are creative, unconventional, and yet easy to follow.She is conviced: "I truly think being environmentally conscious starts with reducing your consumption of resources and products. Sometimes I stop, reflect upon people's frantic consumption habits and just think to myself: we are all addicts, in a way, having to buy compulsively insane amounts of disposable, poor quality 'goods'. It makes me wonder how we are losing the ability to create things with our hands or imagination—simple things such as cooking, growing greens and vegetables, or sewing a button. I refuse to represent this mindset."