A lot of kinds bring lunches/snacks in a series of bags. They will have their sandwich in a Ziploc bag, their chips in another bag, their pretzels in another bag and so on. They will put all of those bags into yet another brown paper bag. All of these throwaway bags cause for more trash build up and an overall increased footprint. There is an easy fix to this. Children and adults who pack their lunch can easily put all of their food items into reusable containers and put the containers into a reusable lunch kit of some sort. This will save the amount of bags we use tremendously. This option is not favored by many however. In the modern day world things move quickly, people would rather use throwaway bags because it is quicker and they can just toss it in the trashcan at the end of lunch. Using reusable containers although inconvenient to some is a much more eco-friendly option. Over time it can also save you a little bit of money because you will not be having to rebuy bags every month. One con to using reusable containers is that you would have to wash them ever day the refore increasing the amount of water you use, but overall I think that reusable containers would be the better lunchtime option. Here I have the article that I referred to that further explains this: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/27/busin … .html?_r=0

I think that reusing containers is a great, easy way to contribute positively to our environment.  I like to bring my lunch to school everyday in a plastic Lululemon bag.  My lunch is both eco-friendly and fashionable!  Another way to reuse during lunchtime is water bottles.  Bringing a water bottle from home everyday is a great way to conserve plastic.  If you only fill the bottle with water, there is no need to wash out the container every time you use it.  According to the Container Recycling Institute, 60 million plastic water bottles are thrown away every day!  We can decrease this outrageous number if we all drank from reusable water bottles.  Here is the link to the Container Recycling Institute website:  http://www.container-recycling.org/inde … -the-drain

Emily, you bring up a good point about the amount of plastic wasted on a daily basis for packaging portable meals. Not until you brought it to my attention did I realize that I myself use many bags for my lunch. In the future, I plan to combine food items into one bag if possible. In addition, I will make sure to always bring my reusable water bottle to all outdoor events including cheer practice .

This is a very good point! Often times, we don't even realize how much plastic is wasted just from thrown away lunch bags. Many high school students wouldn't love the idea of bringing sandwich containers and a decorative lunch bag, as they might think that it is only for kids in elementary school. If you are one of those students, don't think like that! You should be proud of yourself for being green and reducing your own carbon footprint.
If you still aren't a fan of the boxes, then do the earth a favor and recycle your baggies!

Another thing you can do is buy a large container with compartments for your food. This is a good way to control portions if staying healthy is a concern. You can fill each section with grains, fruits, and proteins. According to the website below, you can save $246.60 a year by packing a waste-free lunch. Packing disposable lunches is wasteful and in the long-run, you will save more money by buying reusable containers.
http://www.sheknows.com/home-and-garden … -lunch-box

I agree that using a new plastic container, bag or bottle for portable lunches is a huge waste, and not very good for our environment. Brining a water bottle from home instead of buying one could help conserve plastic as well as save yourself money. Also when bringing food from home instead of a brown bag you could use a lunch pail or reusable bag that may look like it cost more, but when you add up all the plastic bags you buy it may actually be a good small investment.

You could  also reuse the same sandwich bag that you used today for the next day to elongate the amount of bags you have, and not have to buy more all the time.  If you don't like bringing a lunch pail or cloth bag with you, you can always do the same thing with the lunch bag.

This is a great point, that even though it would take you the extra time to wash your reusable containers, they would significantly reduce the amount of waste you emit in to the world. I pack my lunches in a bag that is made out of recycled material, instead of using new plastic or paper bags everyday. I also use reusable containers to pack my food in. Bringing a reusable water bottle to school is another good way of reducing the amount of plastic being thrown away. I am proud to say that this is something popular to do at my school.
If families started to make the investment to buy these containers for their families instead of plastic bags, it would make a significant improvement in our daily lives. If more people were educated or knew about this problem I think we could all help to make the small changes in our daily lives that would help improve this worldwide problem. Schools and workplaces are easy places to help educate and inform people that what they do  every day matters. This isn't a problem that we can't help. Using reusable packaging for your lunches is one of the many ways you can reduce your carbon footprint.

I agree, whenever I use a new plastic bag it seems like such a waste because I know i'm just going to throw it out. Using a container is a much better choice; people should definitely be more preciousness about how many plastic bags they are using and could avoid. There is already so much packaging on the more than  half the things people buy. If we added up the amount we used in just one week, it would probably persuade us that lunch carrying a lunch box is a much better option. I have seen a few people who buy a plastic water bottle with them everyday! It's seems odd that a person would not just invest in a water bottle and lunch box since they would use it on a daily basis. It seems unreasonable not to and especially naive to the fact that they are creating so much waste. In addition a plastic bag takes up to 1,000 years to get recycled. So just one snack being packed would add up. People can reduce their carbon footprint by simply bringing their lunches in containers and water in reusable bottles.

I agree that it is a waste, but it is very inconvenient to carry plastic containers around school all day. I do think that it is worth trading the inconvenience for the savings you will get. If we switched to plastic containers it would save money, paper, and plastic. I don't think people realize how much paper and plastic they are wasting when they carelessly throw away plastic bags, water bottles and paper lunch sacks.

This is a very true statement and I see it happen at lunch every day. I cannot say that I am not to blame, because I too throw away a lot of trash at lunch, but I try to help reduce this as much as I can. Something that I do is reusing spoons. It may seem silly, but it has saved a ton of plastic every year. Reusing water bottles has the same effect. Just taking it home and washing it to be used the next day will reduce your carbon footprint over time.

Before reading your post I never really thought of how many plastic bags I went through a week with my school lunch that I bring everyday. After reading your post and taking everything into consideration I started to change the way I brought my lunch to school. Yes, I do use the occasional bag for granola but since that bag only has granola placed in it, I reuse it over and over for the same thing. Another thing that I took into consideration, was how many plastic water bottles I went through a week. Like the using the plastic bags, using plastic water bottles are the same way. One and done. Although we do have a recycling system where I live, I think, using the bottles over again for different purposes would reduce my carbon footprint more. Right now I do recycle and reuse the water bottles to water my plant. Another thing that would contribute in reducing my carbon footprint would be not using plastic water bottles at all. Like Ziploc baggies converted to containers, plastic water bottles can be converted cups or just regular water bottles.

I think that you raise a very interesting point! I never thought about how many materials we waste just by storing our food in plastic bags! I agree that a reusable lunch kit would help reduce our carbon footprints and the amount of energy we use to create plastic bags. Perhaps instead of using plastic bags, tin-foil, plastic wrap, etc. people could reuse portable containers. Simply by buying plastic containers that can store food, people can save a lot of resources and reduce their carbon footprints! After storing food in a container, one could simply wash it and reuse it again for the next meal. Also, by choosing to use lunch boxes instead of paper bags, people will also be able to reduce their carbon footprints over time. Simple changes can lead to a cleaner environment!