Litterless Lunches

I actually took this idea from my kids school.  Every so often they have "Litterless Lunch" day and they measure the trash that each class produces.  The class with the least amount of litter wins!  It's a great way to show families how easy it is to reduce the amount of landfill you create and the amount of resources you consume.

Here are my No Cost / Low Cost tips for Litterless Lunches.  I say low cost because there is some initial investment but they pay for themselves really fast.

• Fabric Wraps
• Now I know what you are thinking, these can be pricey.  Not really.  If you get a set of 4 for $10 that's just a few boxes of sandwich baggies and these will last virtually forever.  Plus they're really cool, wipeable and all kinds of stuff.  But I have another idea....
• My kids have twin beds and we use jersey sheets.  I used an old jersey top sheet, cut it into squares and I got a TON of them.  I wrap sandwiches in them, use them as "table towels" (instead of paper towels), use as cloth napkins in a lunch bag, a placemat when we pack lunches to go, my kids wipe up spills - you name it.  I probably have 50 or so.  I didn't have to sew anything because jersey won't fray.
• Juice Boxes
• Nope not juicy juice.  You can get a juice box sized rubbermaid container that is shaped like a ....juice box for about $1.  Suddenly you aren't paying for individual servings and you are producing SO much less waste!
• Pack of sandwich containers
• I just got the ziploc ones or maybe glad?  Doesn't matter.  I got 4 for around $1.50 and I can use them forever 
• Small snack containers
• Just what they sound like same as above.  

And honestly if you go the wrap n mat route you probably won't need either of these last two types of containers - only if you go the sheet route =)  I just felt like this was a way for me to go all in without going all in.  Once I knew that it worked for me and that it was super easy to be consistent about it then investing in the wrap n mats was no big deal.  And you might not think it's a big deal (<$10 for a set) from the get go so....get going!

MWAH!

Hi. It's November. November!

It's actually the 4th of November.  I know.  I can't believe it either!   Well time flies and it seems to do so no matter what you're doing as long as you're busy.

Life got a little bit topsy turvy.  My commitment to sustainable living and mostly living foods got stomped all over by....well.....me.   *blush*  Look at the difference a month can make:

Now most things in my sustainable life just "are" at this point so there were no thermostat wars, we didn't give up recycling or start driving the truck down the block to see the neighbors but there were other things.  Our litter free lunches turned into cafeteria lunches (this is a double whammy because it violates the food commitment too!),  I struggled with my biology homework and rather than take the time to write notes I printed massive amounts of pages and highlighted in stead - things like that.

Now for the food.  I think there were a couple of days (not two in a row but at least two occasions) where there was NO FRUIT in the house.  What did we snack on?  Poptarts, candy, chips, cookies - it was insane!  AND....by some cruel twist of biology and metabolism, every single ounce I ate turned into a POUND on my rear end and my Santa Belly is in full force - just in time for the holidays.  BOOOOOO!

Today I said No More!  I am taking back my life and that is that.  I know this kind of thing usually happens on a Monday but it's Wednesday and this is when it fits into my schedule - you'll see.

Today I opened my trusty Google Calendar and started actually scheduling things like "Make Smoothies" and "Drink Smoothies", "Eat Lunch", "Study",  "Rest/Meditate" and even "Do Housework" <--- the other part of my life that got away from me in October.  Does that seem crazy?  Well I *feel* crazy and I'm ready to not feel that way any more so we're going to be regimented and detailed about how I spend my time.  The little things that get away turn out to be pretty important so I'm not letting them get away anymore.