Lunch time and being on the go can have its challenges when you’re trying to reduce your plastic use. Here’s some quick tips to taking the stress and plastic out of lunch time:
1. Bring your own!
Travel mugs and cups, cutlery, and reusable straws are all easy to pack and go. Pro-tip: keeping them in washable fabric bags or cases makes easy clean-up if there’s any little messes.
2. Pack it up!
Reusable lunch containers are available in many sizes and shapes. From insulated soup canisters to stainless steel sandwich boxes. Better yet, wash and reuse glass jarsĀ for leftovers–they’re microwave safe (take the lid off, of course) and it’s even better than recycling.
3. Plan your hydration!
Use a glass or stainless steel water bottle and cut WAY back on plastics for your daily hydration. Many coffee and tea shops will gladly fill your reusable cup. Upcycle food jars with new lids for juice and smoothies.Ā Pro-tip:Ā There’s a growing availability of water bottle stations, usually built in to water fountains, where you can easily refill your water bottles.
4. Bag it and go!
Reusable, washable fabric or fiber bags are great to carry your lunch and snacks in. They’re versatile, sturdy, and have a long life of many washes. And there are so many sizes, styles, colors and great art and prints to choose from!
5. Skip the drive-thru!
When you avoid fast food for meals, not only are you skipping all of the packaging that comes with your meal, you’re cutting out all of the plastic used by these companies to supply and prepare that food. Many fast food supplies and meals are packaged in plastic for easy and sanitary reheating in high-volume kitchens.
