http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-sandwich-wrap-dilemma.html
The Sandwich Wrap Dilemma
Figuring out the greenest lunchboxes to use was easy. But how to wrap the food that goes into the lunchbox? This has been my great challenge. It’s the kind of dilemma that makes me want to clamp shut my eyes, put my fingers in my ears, and hum loudly. So with a brave foot forward, I present my issues.
It is estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school. OK, so you just pack the food in reusable containers, right? Sigh. After comprehensively researching a story I wrote last year Easy Greening: Kitchen Plastic, I just can’t, in good conscience, pack my kids’ food in plastic containers with their threat of potential toxins. And try sending a glass or ceramic container in a lunch to a public elementary school in Brooklyn–it just doesn’t quite fly.
Even if I weren’t concerned about the waste factor in using plastic wrap or baggies–the health concerns are the dealbreaker. Which brings me to the the heartache known as Wrap-n-Mat. I thought this product would be my salvation: a fantastic idea that involves a reusable, folding fabric mat to wrap sandwiches in. But sadly, it is lined in your choice of vinyl. No petroleum products cradling my kids sandwich, thanks. To be fair to Wrap-n-Mat, they do offer non-chlorinated vinyls, but in my book, vinyl is vinyl is still a petroleum product. So there I was, wrapping my first-grader’s sandwich with a paper towel before putting in a sandwich bag, which I could then wash and reuse. It was all starting to feel very neurotic.
Then I began thinking about wax paper. Only to find out that many wax papers are coated with a synthetic (yes, petroleum-based) wax, although there are some great and healthy, all natural brands of waxed paper increasingly available, like Natural Value Wax Paper. But with wax paper you need to use even more to wrap a sandwich because you kind of have to double wrap it–yes, adding to the trash problem. I tried washing it and reusing it, and I would suggest that you not try that at home.
But I really did love that Wrap-n-Mat. So after a lot of head scratching, I have come up with yet another kooky solution, but I think it will really work! I stumbled across this smart and charming blog post at The Small Object about how to make your own reusable sandwich wrap. She chose to use a vinyl coated fabric, but I had an idea to get around that. At first I though about just using fabric and tossing it in the wash as needed, but figured that the energy used for the wash wouldn’t pay off. So how about making the mat in an unlined cotton canvas, and then lining it each day with a small strip of waxed paper?
I’m not sure if it’s the perfect solution, but the amount of wax paper would be minimal, the wrap wouldn’t require frequent washing, and the sandwiches wouldn’t be cuddling with petroleum. What do you think? I’ll let you know how it works, and in the meantime, I bet some of you have already been through this maze. What solutions have you come up with?
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19 comments
add your comment »I'm a 70 y/o grandmother sitting in the bleachers watching and listening to all of you. Some ideas scare me to death -- cloth wrappers that could sit for hours soaking up juices and causing health issues, and the idea of washing is just wonderful, buuuuut, what about the bacteria (yes, it happens! MRSA can be passed in washing machines), the soap ingredients, etc ... not a good alterntive, cloth. Is waxed paper just wax on one side? I'm wondering if that is the best bet: wrap in waxed paper, wax side out, put into plastic bag -- they are getting ecofriendlier by the moment -- and reuse that plastic bag. MY mother used to wash and reuse bags due to cost factor. Today we cn do that for environmental factors. We can't afford to go crazy with this - I agree with the person who said we can't remove our print, but we can make strides albeit small ones to making things a lot better for the future.
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at my child's school, the kids have to throw away their drink containers, no thermos allowed. when there are school parties, all foods MUST be packaged with ingredient lists.
what does this teach kids about recycling, cuisine, creativity?
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Tiffins are a fantastic choice for reusable, safe packaging. Check out www.happytiffin.com. The one difficulty is getting kids to use them when they are in the don't-want-to-be-different stage.
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I have been using all those fabric napkins that sit in my drawer doing nothing to wrap up sandwiches and cookies, cakes with. I figure if I use a laundry detergent like Seventh Heaven or V.I.P. ....( a no phosphates- biodegradable soap made in Vancouver BC ) and wash the napkins in hot water with tea towels only, in the long run it's a way better choice than plastic, foil, baggies, etc. The one down side is they are not waterproof so vegie juices leak out. O WELL. Also, here in Vancouver we have an area called Little India Town where I bought tiffins for all my kids, they are stackable round stainless steel containers that clasp together with a steel strap and can get thrown around in a back pack without the risk of breaking. They come in sizes of 2, 3 , 4 tins stacked up on top of one another. I think you can get up to 6. They use them in India for fast food ! go figure! You can even get thermal ones which I haven't tried out but they are fabulous.....although maybe they are made out of broken down reused oily car parts........
I also do use a glass canning jar for juice. My daughter is hesitant about that but....then I tell her to be a trend setter. Her school has regular litterless lunch days to educate each other on what to use. If they all see her jar they might think it's a good idea. I know there is a safety issue there. Ironically I am still surprised that alot of people still think plastic containers are a good alternative to plastic wrap as a litterless option.
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Yes, consider the toxins in laundry detergent if you wash fabric food wraps in your regular laundry, and also dangers of ecoli contamination. When I was a kid, waxed paper was the only food wrap choice.
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The laptoplunches.com option doesn’t do it for me –porous leaching plastic, petroleum products, not interested.
Tin foil I believe imparts aluminum = health risks & can contribute to Alzheimer’s, etc.
I think the Happy Sacks option sounds good, but would have the same issue of absorbing toxins from laundry detergent.
What stainless steel options are there? And what are the lids made of (ie are they safe, and will they stay on, without leaking?)?
Ah, I’ve found my answer (I just went away and googled this) – airtight stainless steel food container, stainless steel lunch container, stackable stainless steel food containers, and more:
http://www.grassrootsstore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=329
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Lets not forget the microbial world we live in. How "safe" will it be reusing materials that have set at room temperature or higher for more than 4-8 hours? Also I would hesitate to use anything not intended for food use on food.
The plastic container option doesn't have to be all bad. I would recommend two sites to check out> First the snopes site, to check out how much misinformation about plastic is out there. And how it keeps popping up on the web.
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/petbottles.asp
Secondly this site is pretty good, and explains a lot about different types of plastic. So that you can make greener choices. Hopefully some company will start making bio containers for the public to buy... Have you ever tried to wash your bio spinach container with really hot water? Anyway... check out this site so you can make more educated decisions for all your plastics.
http://www.thegreenguide.com/products/Kitchen/Plastic_Containers
And finally I saw a magazine the other day with really adorable binto box plastic containers for kids lunches. When you consider that your child will not be heating most of their lunch. You could simply wrap their sandwiches in a napkin before you place in in a well washed, clean green plastic reusable container. One last thought might be to go back to the idea of tins... but look for nice stainless containers a world ahead of the ones our grandparents used that may have contained lead.
TM
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While I'm all for going greener and greener, there comes a point where I have to come to a happy medium. How about reusing plastic baggies, say one bag per week or however long til it's no longer feasible? Or, how about those Debbie Meyer green bags? I think we can all be environmentally friendlier w/o going over the edge with it. We'll never erase our footprint but making small positive changes in any way to make it lighter is a plus. And along the journey we continue to fine tune it til we find the optimal solution.
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Isn't aluminum foil an option? It recycles...
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My daughter used the Laptop lunch box in kindergarten and it is a wonderful optional. We got a lot of comments from interested teachers adn parents. The trays have to be washed daily, but I wash dishes everyday anyhow, so not anything extra just for them. Here is their website: http://www.laptoplunches.com/
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