Being Green with Lunch: Review and Giveaway

Bianca factoid: I'm the daughter of an environmental engineer. 

And then I married a plastics engineer. Read on to see how these tidbits relate to each other.

Post factoid: Are you ready to learn something new? I hope you are! I did my best to research each point included in this post, but if you find something lacking / incorrect / want clarification, please let me know. Also, are you ready for a TRIPLE giveaway??!!!

I'm pretty sure that most people will agree with me on this one - plastic has over run our world.

Ok, so that was a pretty broad statement. But have you noticed that (in the US) everything comes in plastic packaging? Sure, it's cheaper. Most of it claims to be recyclable, but that is a little misleading.  Most consumers don't know is that food grade plastic actually gets "downcycled," meaning it cannot be recycled into the same plastic product.  So your recycled milk jug won't become another jug. It might become plastic decking or a Green Toy.

When my husband and I were on our babymoon to Europe in 2010, we noticed that so many things were packaged in glass containers. Even personal sized yogurts came in adorable glass containers.

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Starting when we moved in together, one way that I helped stretch our dollars was to pack lunches for us every day. Even though we saved a lot of money by not going out to eat every day (and ate healthier too), I quickly realized just how disposable our lunch world is. Each item was typically put into it's own Ziploc or plastic container. Sandwich baggies were used one time, even though they were perfectly fine for another use. But doing so seemed so...hippy. And isn't it a little ridiculous that you buy these one time use items just to throw away a few hours later? I began to research more "green" and sustainable options.

Bags
A lot of us are already greening our lunches by having a reusable bag or lunch box that we use to carry our food in. This is a much better option over a plastic grocery bag, or even the brown lunch bag, as it is friendlier on the environment and saves money in the long run.  Lisu, from LeLa Studio shared one of her super stylish lunch bags with me and I am so in love with it. It's a very well made bag with a nice metal zipper and is insulated to keep my lunch cold. I also can stuff quite a bit in there! These bags come in a variety of pretty patterns.  It's also gone to work with Adam many times and works part time as Penny's snack carrier when we're out and about.

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Sandwich bags
Sandwich baggies are another one of those silly one-time-use items that in reality can be used multiple times but so few of us care to clean and dry them after their use. The good news is that sandwich baggies are recyclable (recycle them along with your plastic grocery bags at your local supermarket) and Ziploc recently partnered with Recycle Bank to encourage consumers to recycle their bags by offering rewards points.

But that doesn't really solve the problem, does it? So here are my two choices for ridding my house of sandwich baggies.

• For wet, messy lunch items (like cottage cheese and canned fruit.. yum!) I like to use high quality plastic containers or glass.
• For everything else - from sandwiches, cut up fruits or veggies to chips - I've been loving these awesome zippered reusable sandwich baggies from Baby's Growing Up Green. 

These reusable bags come in two sizes - handy sandwich and a bigger quart size. They're double layered with a cute print on the outside and food safe vinyl on the inside - so even if you put a bunch of freshly washed grapes inside, it won't leak and get your sandwich wet in another bag! I love the zipper feature for two reasons - it's easier to keep clean than velcro (half of our cloth diaper stash is velcro and picking lint out of the teeth is a biiiiig pet peeve of mine!) and offers a more securely closed container than velcro does. I've even been able to fill it with chips the night before and store my husband's lunch in the fridge overnight and they were still perfectly crunchy the next day.

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Drink Containers
Nowadays there are a ton of options for carrying your drinks. Sometimes it seems like the cheapest and easiest way is just to buy a pack of bottled water from your local grocery and pack it daily. Again, we feel good about ourselves because the plastic or glass bottle is listed as recyclable but is it really necessary to have these be one time use?

As a breastfeeding mother, drinking water is absolutely essential but honestly is really difficult for me - I get so bored with it quickly! When I was pregnant, I asked my midwife is drinking tea counts as hydrating - to which she smiled at me and said no. Drink water, she said. Well drinking water is reaaaaaally hard for me! I even started trying to trick myself by heating plain water and just dunking a slice of lemon in it, to make myself feel like I was drinking tea. It worked for a while, but drinking a hot liquid is not a preferred option year round ;)

So when I came across the ZingAnything Citrus Zinger, I knew my hydration problem had been solved!

This unique water bottle features a "zinger" in the bottom of the bottle that allows you to infuse your water with a variety of citrus fruits like lemons, limes or clementines. The fruit is contained in a compartment that allows the water and some pulp to circulate, but you don't have to worry about slices of lemon slapping you in the face when you go for a drink.  Mix it up! You can use sparkling water, iced tea, add herbs such as ginger or mint, or a handful of berries too.

This giveaway is over - thanks to all for entering! 

Keep an eye out for more Pierogie Mama Giveaways.

Aren't these some great prizes? I hope you enjoyed reading about the topic and that you'll find these prizes interesting - I was pretty excited to share them with you! There are tons of daily entries so be sure to come back often and gain more points by extra tweets, pins and comments!

One final thought about packing a "green" lunch: start a little bit at a time. It's easier to make small changes over time than completely change course in one day. Be more mindful about single use items and see where you can make changes that work for you. Eventually it will add up and make a big difference!

I received products from each of the above sponsors to accurately facilitate this review. No other compensation was provided.

Giveaway rules:  This giveaway is in no way associated or sponsored by Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Open to US residents only, aged 18 and over. Winners will be contacted within 48 hours of the end of the giveaway via email. They have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen. The Pierogie Mama is not responsible for prize fulfillment, though I will advocate to make sure you receive it!