School is drawing to a close, but summer camps are coming soon, and my daughter’s lunch box (actually, insulated bag) has past its expiry date. Sure, it’s cute and all. But it’s not practical and no matter how thoroughly I clean the thing, it still smells. Yuck!
With enviro-consciousness hitting the school grounds, her lunch bag is generally stuffed with a whole assortment of mismatched plastic containers to house various snacks (apparently she needs three a day) as well as a Sigg drink bottle for water.
Clearly, I need to get myself organized and get a better system in place. (Like when I go to a clothing store and refuse to buy anything unless the store can offer an entire outfit. I don’t want to track down pants somewhere else to match this top! I want the one-stop-shop deal.)
In case you’re in the same jam as me, I’m sharing my research with you here to save you the time. I imagine there are some pretty groovy options out there. Some more pricey than others, but if it last more than a year, I don’t mind spending up a little more.
So here are the criteria I’ve used to narrow down the list.
1. Must be under $40.
2. Must be a full-solution (i.e. not just a bag, but all the extra containers required for snacks and whatnot).
3. Must be BPA-free.
4. Must be lead-free.
5. Must be phthalate-free.
6. Must be available to buy on-line for Canadian deliveries or have a local supplier in Ottawa.
7. Cannot be pink or purple. (That’s my daughter’s criteria.)
Here’s what I’ve found:
Bento Laptop Lunch System
Yep, that’s it. Only one that met all the criteria.
There were some other interesting options though:
Kids Konserve: Complete system, great looking, but pricey.
Crocodile Creek: Nice. But just the bag, no inner containers.
Muchlers: Super cute. But just a bag, and likely too small for my girl.
L.L. Bean: Practical, well-constructed bag with choice of creature on it.
I’m all ears … tell me your lunch box solutions! I’ve got years, and years, and years, of lunch-making ahead of me so I want to get a great system down pat.
It’s funny that paper bags and peanut butter sandwiches are both relics of a bygone age.
I don’t think my “perfect” system would include custom sized containers… What if I melt one in the dishwasher? Or a lid goes missing? Or it gets sat on on the bus and cracks?
I’d go generic on the containers, just buying a few stacking sizes, and get a nice bag.
Happy hunting!
They have nice Columbia lunch bags at Costco (in very non-girly colours) that have a removable inner liner (easy to clean) and a metal water bottle. I haven’t used one but they looked really good- about $25 if I recall correctly.
As for having years and years and years of lunch making ahead of you- ARE YOU CRAZY? They can do it themselves from a pretty early age (7yrs in our case)- just provide some guidelines and supplies and get them in the habit of getting their lunch ready every night. They can’t complain because they made it, and they usually eat it- again because they made it.
Happy lunching.
Brenda – hmmm … you may have a point here!
Angela – uh, hello? 7 years of lunch making IS years and years!
But, as always, I will be taking your advice and instituting this lunch-making routine as early as humanly possible. (Along with doing the dishes and mowing the lawn, of course)
Step up in style and quality from the plastic sippy cup. All SIGG bottles are tested 100-percent safe with NO leaching. All SIGG bottles are durable
Where do they locally sell those Bento boxes??
I know this post was years ago, but I use a KLIP-it cube for each of my kids. I’ve seen them in a number of places, including Home Outfitters and Bed, Bath and Beyond. (about $5) I also have few smaller containers that fit inside it for messier stuff, and I use silicone cupcake cups to separate foods. Every day they get a sandwich (usually bagel and cream cheese), veggies, a muffin, and fruit. I took a pb sandwich to school every single day for about 10 years, my son seems fine with the bagel. we eat peanut butter for breakfast and then brush teeth and wash hands…