Packed lunch minimising plastics

[CycleHire]

Hello. My query is the title of the thread - please can I have packed lunch ideas for a primary school aged child minimising plastics. What can I give instead of those sucky yogurt packs? And crisp packets?

All ideas welcome. Thank you.

[Purplerain101]

You can get the little reusable plastic tubs/Tupperware things and put things like crisps, veg sticks, fruit in them.

[hevonbu]

I like Norwegian packed lunches (and dislike crisp packets). Scroll through and peek at the pictures here, for inspiration (sorry about it not being easily readable): www.matpakkebloggen.no/

[Subtleconstraints]

Lakeland sell brown paper sandwich bags.

[User5trillion]

My kids have yoghurt and fruit for breakfast. Then packed lunch is carrot and cucumber stick, grapes and apple. Cheese cubes and a wrap or sandwich. I use the sistema quad lunch boxes so no plastic packaging. At their school crisps arent allowed. I dont use the yoghurt tubes as they are full of sugar. Sistema do reusable yoghurt pots but my kids are too little to ensure they bring them home.

[mrsmuggins53]

Beeswrap wax on Amazon is good.

[everythingstaken123]

I've been thinking about this a lot. I use so much clingfilm for lunch boxes. I have a little sandwich box that I then put them in but feel like I need to clingfilm them first. I've seen the paper bags from Lakeland but they only just fit the sandwiches in them. You couldn't really put two in so it's very costly. And they don't really seal. They look prettier than they are practical. Perhaps I just need to get a really good container. Can anyone recommend one that would do 2 x sandwich thins in and one that would do 2 x bigger sandwiches in. I like to use glass food storage containers but they are way too heavy to carry around and not practical for school lunch boxes. All recommendations on the sandwich box front gratefully received! Ideally with green credentials if that's possible.

[everythingstaken123]

sorry didn't mean to hijack your thread!

[Subtleconstraints]

I agree the Lakeland bags could be bigger!

[MaitlandGirl]

Have a look at the Smash Nude range on Amazon. They’re an Australian company and very popular with primary schools for rubbish free lunches.

[SuburbanRhonda]

I love those Norwegian packed lunches - especially things in little cake cases. So cute.

[Dizzy2014]

You can use this type or reusable wrap for sandwiches

www.amazon.co.uk/Rolleat-SnackNGo-Tiles-Yellow-Reusable/dp/B01CU0ZAZW/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=reusable%20sandwich%20wraps&ie=UTF8&qid=1515842122&sr=8-1&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[BluebellTheDonkey]

I just took a look at those Smash Nude containers and they do look good, but I can't get my head around not wrapping the sandwich first. Surely the bread will just dry out?

[LostInTheColonies]

We have these - www.amazon.co.uk/Sistema-Bento-Box-Fruit-Yogurt/dp/B01H4Y4KEQ?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

Really fab - there's a removable section in the middle so you can put either one sandwich in with a lid over it, or two larger sandwiches. Or one sandwich, lid, banana. Pot for yoghurt. Big enough to take an apple. Dd's school has a "litter-free lunch" initiative which is great. And the kids are taught that glad wrap = bad wrap; they've made waxed material stuff at school as an alternative.

[MaitlandGirl]

bluebell I’ve not heard of any problems with sandwiches drying out and my kids never complained about it. The sandwich box is s very tight fit (for 3 slices of bread with filling) so there’s not much air in there.

[LostInTheColonies]

We've gone through several Smash Nude boxes after very little use. The plastic has broken on the lid, and also the hinges. Different boxes. I managed to use parts from two to make another but that didn't last either... Sistema seems more robust and no, you don't need to wrap the sandwiches first 😁

[BluebellTheDonkey]

OK i am going to have a non wrapped sandwich experiment! Even though it goes against my inbuilt habits of 40+ years! I know I use far too much plastic and have been reading the threads with interest. Things like pre packed grapes, strawberries, potatoes etc which are delivered in my online shop are almost impossible to avoid though and I don't have the time to shop at markets which is what I guess we should be doing. Anyway I digress. Small steps...

[Wh0KnowsWhereTheT1meG0es]

I have never used clingfilm on sandwiches that are going in a plastic tub (to be honest it would never have occurred to me to do so) and they don't dry out. The only problem can be that they get shaken a bit and the filling falls out. I usually wedge them in with a big chunk of cucumber (skin side touching the sandwiches rather than cut end to avoid sogginess.

[Chocolate1984]

I bought my daughter a yumbox from Amazon & its great. I buy a big tub of yogurt & pour it in a section & sellotape a spoon to the front which then fits in the box once she has eaten the sandwich. I buy most things in bulk so cheaper. It takes up so little space in the cupboards & no losing lids & parts. I thought £25 was expensive but compared to the multiple Tupperware I've lost or thrown away over the years it's a bargain.

[everythingstaken123]

I was always worried about the fillings falling out which is why i was using clingfilm. Am going to try putting them straight into a box and seeing if anyone complains. Like the yoghurt pot idea. In fact love the idea of introducing a "litter free" lunch at school. And apologies, Subtlecontraints - wasn't meaning to diss your lakeland sandwich bags idea! I just find them small!

[CycleHire]

Thanks all. Our child usually has school dinners but is starting a lunchtime club once a week that needs a packed lunch. We have a lunch bag so I will look into a plastic reusable box for sandwich and perhaps decant crisps into a box too plus yoghurt in a pot.

[Wildernesstips]

I stopped using cling film and bags in my own packed lunches about a year ago. Mostly, I just put my sandwich at one end of a regular rectangle lunch box. If I feel I need to separate it, I use a piece of kitchen roll because that can go in our food waste bins. I haven't had any problems with the sandwich drying out.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

I've got that Sistema bento box for work and it's brilliant. Sarnies are fine in it - they really don't need wrapping.

[insancerre]

Don't buy crisps
They are full of fat and salt
Sandwich wrapped in brown paper
Carrot sticks and cheese cubes don't need wrapping
Apple, orange, pear, banana etc don't need wrapppng
Yogurt in a plastic pot that can be recycled

[Ginandplatonic]

Mine had stainless steel lunch boxes with separate compartments for sandwiches and snacks, also came with little stainless steel pots for yoghurt/dips. Unwrapped sandwiches didn't dry out. Only downside was they were from Planet Box in the US and cost an arm and a leg when you factored in postage too. Lasted forever though.