Struggling with Litterless Lunches? Let us help!

We all know about the impacts of plastic on the environment. Making lunches day in and day out is sometimes trying enough without then thinking how to make it litterless! 

As working mums we hear you and can help.  Making a litterless lunch doesn’t need to add stress and can actually help you save money and even encourage healthier food options!

So here are our team’s top tips to making litterless lunches easy and to start reducing the huge amount of packaging waste created by school lunches.

Start with one thing- if going litterless lunches seems totally overwhelming start with one little change first and commit to one day a week or changing one plastic item in the lunch box for the first week. This applies to all steps along your eco journey-just start with one thing.

Rethink-  pause and take a few moments to stop and think do I really need this and what will happen to this when I am finished with it? This will help you to make better choices and choose food items with limited or no plastic packaging. 

Choose a sturdy lunch box that will last or a brand that has a lifetime warranty. Ideally one with dividers to reduce wrapping needed. To keep food items fresh or tightly wrapped use a Honeywrap to avoid need for any plastic wrap.

Buy in bulk rather than single serve individually packaged snacks. Split them into little containers or your Honeywrap. This will be cheaper and massively reduce the plastic waste. 

Replace individually wrapped yoghurt containers with a large container and pour into smaller containers adding your own flavour and also controlling the sugar. Replace individually wrapped chips with a large bag to split or make old fashioned popcorn.

This is packaging waste from a NZ school during one day!

Get your kids involved in preparing lunch or if you can’t handle the mess;)- Get them to come up with ideas of what to put in their lunch box. When you make it for them the likelihood they will throw food out they don’t like is is 99%

Pack leftovers- brilliant so much easier than having to think or make something. eg. quiche, kebab sticks, pasta salad, corn on the cob, meatballs etc. I plan my meal with school lunches in the back of my mind and take these portions out before serving dinner.

Make or bake your own- Get the kids to help again increasing likelihood they will eat it :) Popcorn is a great one to start, so fun to watch it pop. Takes five min either in a pot or you can make with a paper bag ( could reuse the one your mushrooms come in:) in the microwave

https://www.blessthismessplease.com/how-to-pop-popcorn-in-a-brown-paper-bag-the-microwave/

https://kidgredients.com.au/no-bake-chewy-choc-chip-muesli-bars/ This one is a healthier option muesli bar and you don't even need to cook it!

Remember just start with one thing… Love to hear you other ideas.