Monday, April 28, 2008

To Go, Green Style

One of my biggest green-smashing vices is take out. Life has gotten a lot busier in the past year with taking on a second job, stepping up the gardening business, and ironically, having Sprout in school. The local coffee shop is the main place we indulge in now and again. They have a divine soup, make a mean veggie sandwich, and have sweets galore. It's all reasonably priced and I like supporting our local, family-owned coffee shop that buys our organically grown produce in the summer. There's just one problem: packaging. We usually eat there, but there's almost always leftovers. I most often eat there with Bird, and she's the only one to get lunch (I eat when I get home), but she always has half a sandwich left over. Yes, the soup comes home in a paper cup, the rest comes home in bulky styrofoam. It finally got to the point where I realized it was time to do something about it, so I went searching, and discovered these items which are some of my favorite new things! The first are Sigg snack boxes, like the blue one pictured at right, and the red one below. These are perfect for putting Bird's leftovers or a sweet treat in. They will also be perfect for when I don't have Sprout's Laptop Lunchbox clean and need to use his regular lunchbox (a soft-sided number). We only use a few plastic baggies a month but I expect these will totally eliminate our need for them. The snack boxes also come in a larger size for people who want to take a big salad to work or otherwise pack a bigger portion. They are lightweight and sturdy, and close securely. The second is a tiffin by To-Go Wear that I first saw on Vegan Lunchbox. It really is divine. I can have soup or a salad in one container, and a half-sandwich or roll in the other. The divider between the two can be used as a little plate. The handle allows you to put in hot foods and not burn yourself walking around. Very handy. So now I can get my take out completely waste free and enjoy my "fast food" with much less guilt. Hooray! I found my new treasures at www.reusablebags.com.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't realize that Sigg also sold snackboxes. I have a Sigg water bottle that I really love.

I purchased my organic cotton produce bags from reusablebags.com and they work great. They can be used for produce or to keep meat and cleaning products separate from the rest of the groceries.

Cathy said...

Thanks for the info--I eat on the go quite a lot with my kids, so this stuff would really help.

Kelli said...

I have the tiffin, and some bento boxes (they're plastic *gulp*) that I use for restaurant leftovers. The nice thing is I have lunch instantly packed for the next day!

www.mysisterdalesgarden.com said...

just found your site---great info--what is the drink container? i am looking for an eco friendly container to keep at bedside. please come visit dale's garden--i'd love your feedback.

thanks

Mia said...

Hi Miriam, That's a stainless steel travel mug from Whole Foods. I actually really dislike the top for it though I love the mug itself. I recently picked up one I liked better at Starbucks. I don't like to put my hot drinks in any kind of plastic. For cold drinks, we love our Sigg bottles. Hope that helps!