Saving Money Going Green with Your Kid's Lunchbox

This year my kids’ lunchboxes are undergoing a redesign. No, I’m not talking about swapping out the smiling High School Musical crew for a Hello Kitty box, I’m rethinking what I’m packing on the inside in an effort to make their lunches more eco-friendly. My efforts are not wholly altruistic. Turns out, going green is not only good for the environment, but it’s easier on your budget too.

Forget the juice boxes. Opt for a sturdy water bottle that your child can use the whole year instead of daily juice boxes. Not only will you be cutting out extra sugar (and trash!), but you’ll be saving on your grocery bill too.

Buy reusable, plastic containers. Look for a variety of sizes to pack up sandwiches, chips, cut up fruit and veggies, even good-for-them desserts like calcium-rich pudding or yogurt. Leah Ingram, author of the upcoming book Suddenly Frugal, says she bought plastic sandwich keepers for each of her kids’ lunches. “It wasn’t cheap,” explains Ingram who also blogs about green living. “But the containers can last two or three years, meaning I get my money’s worth out of it and it creates no trash, unless of course my daughter doesn’t eat the crusts.”

Create your own convenience packs. It’s easy to throw a bag of chips, a box of raisins or other prepackaged goods into your kids' lunches. But by spending a little time packaging snacks yourself you can save money. At the beginning of the week, have your children help create snack boxes of their own with favorites like raisins, pretzels, or even individual yogurt cups, then use them to fill lunches throughout the week.

Stash your trash. Ingram trained her two children to bring home their lunch trash instead of tossing it. Leftover food scraps go into the family compost pile while any paper goods or plastic goes into the recycle bin.

Choose local produce. Look for farmer’s markets or locally grown produce at your neighborhood grocers instead of buying fruit and veggies that have been flown in from far-off locales. For example, Ingram picks apples at a nearby orchard to include in her kids’ lunches.

Label everything! All your recycling/reusing efforts will go to waste (literally!) if you don’t write your child’s name in permanent ink on her lunch containers — so don’t forget to label and to remind your child to bring home everything.

Avoiding Hungry Bus Kid Syndrome

This morning my middle child posed a strange question, "Mom, if I have any leftovers from my lunch, do you mind if I give them to the hungry girls?" I followed up on this, "What do you mean hungry girls?" My daughter's explanation: apparently there are a couple of girls that go kid-to-kid on the bus asking for food. "They'll even eat the stuff you drop," offered my daughter. Lovely.

We're not talking malnourished girls here, just energetic elementary schoolers whose last meal was before recess at 11:30am. The situation got me thinking about how to pack my kids' lunches not only for lunch, but also for potential bus hunger pangs later. As a result my kids’ lunches underwent a bit of a redesign.

Pack in layers. Just like you dress in layers on breezy days to be prepared for a variety of weather, pack for a variety of hunger levels. Some days your kids will be ravenous, other days they’ll have problems finishing a mini-bagel. You don’t want them to waste food so offer some fillers that can last through the week. If they don’t eat it Monday, it’ll still be good on Friday. Granola bars work well.

Put in plastic. Instead of baggies, stash snacks in small plastic containers. That way, if your son doesn’t finish his Goldfish, they won’t be crushed by the time he’s hungry for them later.

Go for snacks with longevity. Pretzels, baby carrots, Twizzlers, Fiber One bars (I’m told that’s a “hungry girl” fav) won’t go bad if your kids don’t eat them right away.

I’m not encouraging eating on the bus (which I’m told isn’t allowed--but the bus driver doesn’t mind), just that I want my kids to have enough food at school to keep their energy up throughout the day. And I don't want them combing the ground on the bus floor for snacks!