Choosing Eco Friendly Lunch Boxes

Remember when lunch boxes were just little He Man or Wonder Woman metal suitcases and you got a sandwich? Now it’s BPA free plastic, stainless steel, silicone, 3 sections, 5 sections, hot, cold…? Where does a mama on a zero waste quest begin?

In any case, my goal has always been to give my kids the healthiest fuel I can, but it has evolved as they’ve grown and as circumstances have changed. Now that the kids can get a healthy lunches at school, I get a break and pack less lunches.

Last year I tried to retire my plastic Bentgo boxes, and bought the metal Planetbox ones. They are very heavy and I tried to outsmart myself and get the bigger one so the kids could grow into it. But that backfired because they were so big that their stuff was floating all around. So then I had to buy all the inserts to separate and keep the food in. Let’s just say, they are carting around very fancy and expensive lunch boxes and I’m resentful.

So which are the best kid lunch supplies? I’m not sure, but this is what I know after a handful of years on the school lunch scene.

Let’s get to it:

Plastic Bentgo boxes. I tried to get away from these to eliminate the kids’ plastic exposure. But they are a good size, especially for my preschooler. I have never put them in the dishwasher and never put hot food in them. So they’re still in our rotation, but mostly for sending their dry snacks.

Plastic Bentgo tops. The cases they come with make these pretty heavy. Once those broke (which they always do) we just used these plastic tops and they work well, but not for keeping liquids in. Those silicone seals really make life easier.

Thermos for hot food: If I send soups, or leftovers I use a Thermos thermos. Don’t go cheap here, it won’t keep the food warm by lunch. Before putting food in I heat them with boiling water for at least 10 minutes. I got all these from my Buy Nothing group!

Snacks: I send snacks our Bentgo boxes if they are getting lunch at school. I have 2 Stasher bags and don’t dare sending them to school for fear of losing them. $$$$. But there are some less expensive ones out there. I saved you a google: here. We also continue to use our small ReZip bags or small stainless containers depending on the snack. We use a little bottle brush to clean bags and hang dry.

Water bottles: After years of cleaning gross moldy straws on different plastic and metal bottles we finally switched to the Kleen Kanteen sport bottle. If only they could give me those years of my life back. I like that the spouts are silicone and they hold up well even if they get dented and we love them.

Planetbox: Everyone loves these — is this an “Emperor’s New Clothes” thing that someone needs to call out? I’m going to just say it: they are not that awesome. I love the stainless steel but they’re big, the latch is awkward and required a lot of strong arming. I tried to find these second hand but gave up. Since then I’ve seen them on Poshmark and Ebay so don’t give up if you’re into them. But I invested too much into these and regret it. I got allllll the accessories to keep the food separate and contained. If starting from scratch I would look at The Good Kiind because it’s stainless with a silicone seal (although still expensive) or a smaller stainless one like this or the Bentgo Stainless option.

What I would love is a smaller, deeper stainless lunchbox with a silicone sealing lid that would hold enough on its own but also fit in the lunch bag with a thermos. That’s the unicorn.

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