bonus rubbish-free packing tips

  1. If your snack-size plastic ware is missing lids, then use a silicon/paper muffin liner as the lid for drier goods (dried fruit, nuts, pop corn) – secure over the container with an elastic band.
  2. Separate food items within a larger box with silicon cake liners
  3. Buy some reusable Bento dividers to keep foods separate in the lunch box
  4. Protect soft fruits by popping them inside a wet-suit stubby cooler
  5. Use popcorn as a box-filler to stop the contents shifting around too much (not intended to be eaten, but if the kids do, then they won’t be harmed)
  6. Use Japanese Bento boxes. Japanese kids are clearly trained not to use them as footballs, but rather carry them carefully in an upright position so their lunches look great enough to eat
  7. Grab an Indian metal tiffin carrier
  8. Invest in an Americans eco-friendly aluminium box-trays (hugely expensive)
  9. Get a wide-mouthed thermos for winter soups and hot leftovers
  10. Make or buy fabric parcels to create a picnic lunch box full of goodies
  11. Use patty cake paper cups to separate food items – these can be recycled in the worm farm
  12. Make a cone out of paper and then twist up the bottom tightly, leaving the top of the cone wide. Fill with sultanas and other dried fruit and then fold or scrunch the top down to seal
  13. Hide the glad wrap and avoid buying single-serve pre-wrapped foods such as muesli bars, juice boxes, small tubs of custard/yoghurt, mini-boxes of dried fruit. It is so automatic to reach for these when you are used to using them.