Lunch Bags – Reusable and Litterless Lunch Systems

Lunch Bags have transformed from the concept of traditional brown bags into functional and stylish lunch systems. We received our camouflage ACME Lunch Bag from the online store Every Little Bit and I’m so happy with my testing of my first ever lunch bag. Additional features to the ACME lunch bag is it’s roomy compartment with adjustable strap and ice pack.  The size of the ACME brand is big enough for an adult sized stainless steel water bottle and several reusable containers. The bag comes with an ice pack that fits into an inside pocket so anyone sending meats, yogurt, salad, etc. can rest easily that it’s cold enough to sit all day before eating. Every Little Bit does have a girlie color in the ACME brand lunch bag (although I love green camo for both boys and girls) in a fun Berry color, both with the great price point of $20.95.

Researching littlerless lunch systems has long been a favorite topic at Mommy Footprint. I talk to parents wherever I go and ask what their favourite system of packing lunches for kids that are in school all day. What I’ve learned is that everyone has a different system or preference to how lunches work – both parents and children. It’s interesting how some parents really like packing food in separate containers, while others find that a system that’s attached via a tiffin or lunchbox style works the best for their household. After hearing from several parents they enjoy using lunch bags – I turned my search to find an eco-friendly option and the ACME bags are a fantastic product. More things to love than their design and size is they are PVC and lead free.  This year, PVC- free products are a must with kids returning to school!  We need to start an uprising within our parent groups about how toxic and terrible PVC is for our children’s health and our planet. If the term PVC is new to you – it is the worst kind of plastic that is produced and is coded #3. It produces toxic dioxins when it’s made, off-gasses chemicals for it’s life-span, then never leaves our planet because there isn’t a way of disposing of it that doesn’t cause more harm to the environment; PVC doesn’t break down in a landfill or if it’s burned in an incinerator it again releases more carcinogenic dioxins into the air.  Not a pretty description of a plastic that is in probably most of your children’s toys and many back-to-school products that are pushed by the big box stores. Make PVC-free a focus with your back-to-school shopping this year – if not for the environment – then for the health of your kids. Okay…back to the awesome ACME Lunch Bags…

I used my ACME lunch bag on my recent Geocaching family adventure and the shoulder strap was perfect to adjust to my body size. This strap can adjust back to fit a child too. The non-toxic freezer pack kept our stainless steel water bottles super cold during our geocaching outing in very hot weather. The interior lining of this bag is insulated for hot or cold food and beverages and is 100% made in the USA. It just gets better for this bag  - it can be thrown in to the washing machine for occasional cleaning and the insulated interior makes it easy for daily wipes with a damp cloth to pickup crumbs or spills.  A lot of positives and this product receives a high ‘Eco-rating’ from Every Little Bit and a high ‘Mommy Footprint’ rating for price point, quality, and back-to-school must have for those looking for Lunch Bags.  A great size for children attending full day school or adults working too!

Lunch Sacks by Ore on the Every Little Bit site are a great size for preschool kids or younger children needing snacks packed. There is a design to delight any child from Dia de los Murtos for boys (skulls) to Butterfly designs with lots of other fun themes – there is design for anyone. Sized for a snack and small water bottle – these would be most exciting for a little person entering the world of school this September. These cotton lunch sacks are laminated so they clean up easy in the wash and is non-toxic and lead free. With the lower ‘Eco Rating’ from Every Little Bit I’m guessing these bags are made overseas – the handy little tool on the Every Little Bit site measures if a product is simply a better option to traditional products or would be welcomed by they crunchiest of green people! But I love the fact they are made PVC-free with a variety of designs that would promote a 3 or 4 year old to embrace using a litterless lunch system.

For the size, quality, price point and the fact it’s made in the US – I think the ACME lunch bags are an awesome back-to-school option for parents looking for this system for packing litterless lunches in September. If you are confused whether a product is PVC-free I would love to tell you to flip over the product and look for the recycling code number 3 – but most products (in my experience) that are made with PVC aren’t coded. Instead stick your head inside the backpack, lunch sack, pencil case, etc. and smell. If you smell the yucky plastic smell – it’s likely been made with cheap plastic.  Don’t purchase these product. Also, look for supplies that are marked PVC-free on the package. It’s a big marketing factor for companies and because it costs more to develop products without PVC, these companies want you to know they are PVC-free and will mark that somewhere visible.

I hope you are finding helpful information with this series of healthier back-to-school lunch options that promote litterless lunches. Here are some related articles:

Litterless Lunch ~ Back To School With PlanetBox

Litterless Lunch ~ Back To School With PlanetBox

PlanetBox is this year’s solution for packing healthier and litterless lunches for the family. It’s wonderful that planning your child’s lunch to include food without packaging actually promotes creativity and healthier food selections. We’ve had a blast testing our PlanetBox and here are the results from a picky mama and kids that are equally hard to please having seen many eco-alternatives for lunch time alternatives over the years.

Do I love the PlanetBox? Yes and so do my children. We are all convinced there is some magic at work because all the PlanetBox compartments don’t require lids to contain the different food items. My biggest pet peeve with stainless steel containers is when they aren’t airtight and food leaks into my kids backpack or into other food causing it to becomes inedible (strawberry juice on a sandwich for example). My school aged children love strawberries and grapes so I put the PlanetBox to the test by putting strawberries, grapes, granola bar and a sandwich all inside – just quickly plunking them all in the compartments and closing the lid. They I shook the Planetbox, twisted it upside down to simulate the movement inside a backpack, then shook it some more. We were all tickled that the water from the grapes hadn’t touched the sandwich and the strawberry juice didn’t leak onto the bread or granola bar. Also, I put chocolate chips in the small center area to make sure they didn’t move around in the box because they are so small. Everything stayed put and there were no leaks! This test was my biggie with this product and I’m very happy with the results. Here are some photos.

For anyone that packs a lunch to work or school and you haven’t invested in a re-usable lunch solution – now is the time. It naturally encourages healthier meals and you’ll feel great about eliminating plastic baggies, plastic wrap, and food that comes pre-packaged in more plastic! Another very smart detail of the PlanetBox is the magnets that are included to ‘decorate’ the outside. Will the magnets eventually get lost? Of course. But if you have a child that doesn’t appreciate being one of the few in their class to have a different looking lunch system with only the stainless steel outside – the fun designs and characters that come on the PlanetBox magnets help kids feel comfortable with their peers and their traditional lunch boxes. By the time the magnets disappear at the bottom of the backpack or locker – your child will no longer care their system is different. From my son’s reaction to how cool he they thought the PlanetBox magnets are – I know he would have loved this option when he first started bringing ‘adult looking’ stainless steel lunch systems to school years ago. It’s a brilliant and inexpensive addition to the PlanetBox with several fun designs that kids love. The magnets allow your child to show their personality and there’s a spot to write their name to personalize. Here is my the other set of magnets that my boys love – sports themed!

Another great aspect to the PlanetBox are the containers that can be purchased with the system if you’ve got kids that love yogurt, messy salads, or dips for veggies, etc. These additions can be stored within the lunchbox to keep all the pieces together – a great picture from the PlanetBox site below displays how it all fits together. My younger son would love yogurt in his lunch so I can use this system with the Big Dipper container – perfect for messy main dishes he loves – rather than a sandwich that he never eats. If you’ve purchased the carry bag with the PlanetBox there is also room in the outside pocket for the Big Dipper (and a reusable water bottle!!) and on the inside liner you can fit an icepack to keep these food items chilled throughout the day.

What I’m finding with my different ages and personalities of my four kids is that everyone needs a lunch system tailored to the food they’ll eat. For my easy to predict older son that takes fruit, veggies and a sandwich every day and enjoys every bite – I would order only the PlanetBox basic for $34.95 and be completely happy. He loved both the planet and sports themed magnets and thinks his PlanetBox is great! My younger son that likes variety with his food and would prefer salad or yogurt to a sandwich – I would need the PlanetBox Plus with the Big and Small Dipper containers for $49.95. The complete PlanetBox set includes a carry case and it’s super quality and answers the problem of parents wanting to keep their child’s lunch on ice so food doesn’t spoil in a hot backpack – so this system at $59.95 would be ideal. I like the different price points and options available from the PlanetBox and am excited to review such a well thought out product for this year’s back to school.

I’ll be writing my back-to-school series starting in July this summer because it’s helpful to order supplies early rather than waiting until September for information. For parents wanting a complete system for lunches this year, PlanetBox would be a great investment. This lunchbox has mom approval and is also kid tested and approved!