The following is a guest post by Green Coast, a renewable energy and green living blog focused on helping you live a more sustainable life

Taking care of our environment is something that the current generation has embraced in a big way. People have now become more aware of the dangers that we pose to our environment and how it will affect us in the long run. Therefore, to ensure that we keep our environment clean and habitable, even the smallest gesture of going green is appreciated.

Waste comes from all facets of our lives. From our homes, businesses, and even the schools our kids attend. For this reason, today, we will focus on how you can go green and preserve the environment, even with the lunches you pack for your kids.

Tips for Preparing an Eco-Friendly Lunch for Your Kid

In this article, I will show you several tips you can embrace to prepare eco-friendly lunches for your kids.

1. Use A Reusable Stainless Lunchbox

The first and most important tip to consider is using a reusable lunch box. This will eliminate the danger of using one-time, disposable containers, which will only increase the amount of waste going into our environment.

To make it even better, using a stainless metal container is the best idea. This is because it will last longer and will help reduce the use of plastic. There are various great containers you can use, and all you need is to do your research.

2. Use Reusable Water Bottles

Apart from food, you will have to pack water for your kids. Therefore, to ensure you are environmentally friendly, ensure you buy reusable bottles for your kids to carry water with. A stainless metal bottle can be an excellent option that will last longer, and that is eco-friendly.

This is another way of getting rid of plastic bottles, which have a short useful life and end up filling the landfills. Some of these stainless bottles are made in a way that they can keep your water either hot or cold, for long periods. Ensure that each of the water bottles have a recyclable straw included. 

3. Buy Bamboo Cutlery

Since you want something, you can clean and reuse, bamboo cutlery comes in handy. They are easy to clean and also very durable.

This will ensure that your kids don’t litter the environment with all sorts of one-time disposable cutlery.

4. Bring The Waste Back Home

Another thing you should do is to let your kids bring the leftovers home. This way, you can be able to decide which ones go into waste and which ones are good leftovers.

When you are using reusable packing boxes, it will ensure that they come with everything back home. Also, it will ensure that your kids don’t dispose of what they weren’t supposed to, in the school trash bins. Let your kids learn to do their dumping at home. 

5. Pack Correct Portions

To avoid so much food wastage, ensure that what you pack for your kids, is what they can actually consume. This way, less food will be going to the trash. The tip on coming with leftovers back home is a great way for you to learn how much your kids consume, to allow you to pack the right amounts.

You will also learn what they love eating so as to avoid packing things that they will never eat and ending up in trash bins.

6. Mix Chewable And Soft Foods

Lunch breaks are not as long as they actually sound. That 30 minute lunch break is, in fact, a very short time. Therefore, you should ensure that the food you’ve packed for your kids is easy to chew and eat. You don’t want your kid to be bringing all the food back home since they didn’t have time to eat.

The less the amount of food remains, the less the waste that ends up in the trash and the greener we become.

7. Use A Bento Box

To avoid mixing up foods which may make your kids not want to eat, you can use a Bento box to sort this out. With this box, you can pack different types of foods in the various compartments, which makes the lunch enjoyable.

The box also helps avoid the use of multiple boxes, as you can pack almost everything that your kid wants in that single box.

Conclusion

Going green and preserving our surroundings should not be taken lightly. Any activity we do, we can do it in a way that ensures the sustainability of our environment. I hope that this article gives you the essential tips to pack an eco-friendly lunch.

Author Bio: Green Coast is a renewable energy and green living blog focused on the best tips to help you live a more sustainable life.  Follow us on Facebook and/or Twitter.