What Is the Meaning of Green Lunch?
Amid concerns of global warming, chemical pollutants and overcrowded landfills, green trends abound. Today, "going green" refers to a lot more than recycling. In fact, one green trend becoming popular for the environmentally-conscious is the green lunch. Packing a green lunch for work, school or even a picnic, is an easy, healthy way to ease burdens on both your pocketbook and the Earth.
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Goals of Green Lunches
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While there is no magic formula for making a green lunch, there are some common goals that green, or eco-friendly lunches, have in common. These goals include reducing waste, choosing climate-friendly foods, limiting exposure to potentially toxic chemicals in lunch containers and saving money. By considering how to attain these goals, you can easily begin to prepare green lunches with common household materials for yourself and your family.
Healthy Green Lunch Foods
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By packing lunches at home, you are likely to make healthier food choices than you would eating out or in a cafeteria. However, green lunches often go a step further by including organic foods to limit your exposure to chemical pesticides. A good place to start is by following the Environmental Working Group's recommendation to avoid the "dirty dozen" foods that contain the highest concentration of pesticides.
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Environmentally-friendly Food Choices
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In addition to organic, nontoxic food, green lunches might also include environmentally-friendly, sustainable food choices. According to the National Resource Defense Council's 2010 "Eat Green" publication, such green choices include replacing some meat and seafood with food that's lower on the food chain, such as fruit, grains and vegetables; choosing fresh, whole food over processed food; and shopping locally for in-season food that didn't waste fuel and energy being shipped to you.
Waste Reduction
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A common feature of green lunches is a marked elimination of waste from napkins, plastic bags, paper lunch sacks, plastic bottles and food packaging. Instead, many utilize reusable containers, lunchboxes, napkins and silverware. In addition, the EPA recommends that waste-free lunches contain food purchased in bulk to reduce the waste of individually wrapped items, whole fruits that don't require packaging and drinks in reusable or recyclable containers rather than disposable boxes.
Eco-Friendly Lunch Containers
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Green lunches are also packed in eco-friendly, reusable packaging. The Oregon Environmental Council recommends choosing metal or cloth lunch bags, which are free of potential contaminants such as lead, phthalates, and BPA found in many plastic lunch containers. For plastic, the council suggests choosing BPA-free labeled products. The same suggestions apply for containers within the lunchbox. When possible, opt for glass or BPA-free plastic reusable food storage containers.
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References
- Photo Credit Lunchbox image by Scott Williams from Fotolia.com
