To think "fuck off Eco lunch box"?

[VivaLeBeaver]

I mean the standard lunch box food police is bad enough. Not allowed xyz in pack up.

But for the next two weeks we have to have no packaging waste in the lunch box either. So nothing in individual wrappers, sandwich bags, etc. Ater the two weeks experiment is up apparently it's fine to using as many cheap plastic bags, bits of cling film as you can cram in the box.

Do the school really thing I'm going to bung sandwiches, cucumber, pepper strips, satay and illegal cake in one Tupperware box with no method of wrapping them?

Dd came home today with no empty sandwich bags which is unusual. Apparently the kids with rubbish at the end of lunch have to put their rubbish in a big bag so at the end of the trial they can see how much they're damaging the world.

All the above arguments are exactly the same ones that people brought to the table when they first proposed this at our schools (Canada). Everyone was against it, no one could be bothered, nobody wanted to invest in all the pots, do the chopping etc. They first rolled it out with a trial period and then the following fall it became an actual school policy; pack a litterless lunch or children have to bring all their garbage and compost home. This made for some very messy lunchboxes for parents to deal with at the end of the day so eventually most parents have got on board. It's really not that hard, it's really not that expensive in the grand scheme of things and your kids are probably getting a healthier lunch in the end because you're not buying individually-wrapped, pre-packaged non-food junk. It's a little thing but it is something we should ALL be doing. I imagine that the notion of recycling was hard to swallow in the beginning too but now it's a habit in all our homes, right?

Trust me, I know how hard it is to do all the stuff that needs to be done in a busy household but this is really not a big deal in terms of money or effort and it's pretty cool when your kids bring home their lunchbox and there's nothing to throw away but an apple core or some sandwich crusts that can then go into the compost. PLEASE keep an open mind and give it a try. I'm not being sanctimonious; just want to say that I've been through the transition and it's not as hard as it sounds.

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They are v big on no-waste lunches in dds school, so she has all manor of these tubs for her lunch, sandwich, fruit, snacks etc!

She actually prefers it! being in a hot climate (Australia) she finds her food gets sweaty in cling wrap, plastic bags etc!

The post we use are great! One you have bought them, no more buying & throwing bags, which can be expensive. Dh uses a deeper version of the sandwich box too & he is happy now his sandwiches don't get bashed around by his fruit etc. They are microwavable too, so dh can take left overs in them & warm quickly!

pots*

They shouldn't need to be properly washed & I certainly don't have to go to the lengths of dishwashing! It's a few crumbs! Usually if dd has just had a sandwich, a quick rinse is fine. Which, if your dd is due to go to secondary school soon, she is more then capable of doing! My dd is 8 & she rinses & dries her school tubs most nights.

My dd has never suffered food poisoning because of her lunch! And she is at an Australian school, where they have no refrigeration for lunch boxes. We use ice packs. No one I know is worried about food poisoning!

I am not against recycling, I'm just against the principle of schools instructing parents how to pack their children's lunch. Why don't they sell the pots at school and encourage people to use them rather than dictate?

Does anybody know how food safe all these plastic cartons are?I prefer greaseproof paper,use foil at times.We have the Bottle Green steel drink bottles for play as I hate cheap made in China plastic(which can leak chemicals) for storing food.Even after the baby bottle scare it's a nightmare finding out how safe a lot of the cheaper plastic boxes are.

I have 3 kids and their water bottles cost a fortune,high quality steel Bento boxes etc are out of my league and as I said before I don't have the time(not even working full time) to chop carrots,cheese,always make home made cake,snacks etc( pointless de wrapping shop cake prior to putting in your shiny Bento box).

Schools need to realise working parents have f* all time.

How about sending him with 100% biodegradable sandwich bags? Or foil which you can reuse?

I'm surprised people actually think that preparing lunchboxes is a lot of work. DH often does them in our house and he works fulltime. We actually do it at breakfast time whilst serving breakfast to the screaming hordes, including an oft tantrumming 2 year old and one or other child doing their reading because it got forgotten the night before. DH was away a couple of weeks ago and so I did the lot and honestly it took about 5 mins to prep 2 lunch boxes. Homemade cakes are a sort of once a fortnight item in our house, as I usually can't be bothered to make them and don't buy cakes or biscuits. Usually it's sarnies, yogurt, chopped veg and a piece of fruit and perhaps a couple of crackers or something for the ravenous boy. It takes moments to do.

I guess people always hate change.

I think this is a good thing for schools to do. It not only encourages less packaging waste, but also by doing so pushes people towards healthier less processed choices.

We use BPA free plastic tubs.

I honestly can't see how tubs are worse than reusing washed plastic bags (urgh)

Sistema, all BPA free

It doesn't take five minutes to clean out yesterday's lunchboxes, wash (even a quick rinse) several tupperware containers out, dry them, change the water, make sandwiches, cut up carrots/cucumber etc.

And that's without each household going to the shops (by car?) to buy all the ingreedients.

I am not convinced this is the most eco-friendly way to feed hoardes of children who all have to eat at the same time, that's all.

School dinners are probably the better option, eco-friendly wise. If I could afford it mine would have school dinners every day. However, you can buy a lot of packed lunch for £2.10 per day per child.

Usually it's sarnies, yogurt, chopped veg and a piece of fruit and perhaps a couple of crackers or something for the ravenous boy. It takes moments to do.

It takes me about ten minutes. For me it's not necessarily the faff of doing them but thinking about what should go in them, so that they have some kind of variety and are reasonably balanced. DDs have school dinners twice a week as three days a week of packed lunch is so much easier, plus it fits in with after school activities having their main meal at lunch on those days.

I'd be very cross if the school got strict on packed lunches, either for eco or healthy eating reasons. Our only rules are no chocolate, because it makes a mess, and no nuts.

I hope they are trying to get the kids to eat chicken's feet.

We've done that lesson. Chicken feet, pigs ears, pigs trotters, etc. It was fun.

Oh, we are big on this eco stuff.. put sandwich and slice of cake/flapjack - whatever in a divided washable box in lunchbag, add an apple/banana/orange and reusable water bottle to bag.

then take holiday in Florida flying across the Atlantic in a gas guzzler of an aircraft, hiring a people mover as big as a house, going in shops which have full aircon and open doors... and swimming pools heated to bath temperature...

HOW OLD IS THIS THREAD!

Doh! ::slaps head:: I didn't get a zombie warning. How annoying.

YANBU. Ignore their petty rules. I get a bit fed up with being told what to do by schools.

Oops old thread