Brown Bagging It

Do you pack a lunch?  The cafeteria at the hospital only serves lunch so if I work second shift, I have to pack a lunch or try to run out on my half hour break, so I usually pack it.  I actually pack a lunch a lot of times when I work day shift too, just because it's cheaper and better tasting.

Sometimes I take leftovers, sometimes I make a salad or bring homemade soup to heat up; once in a while it's cheese and crusty bread with a little pasta salad, and occasionally it's just good old fashioned PB&J.  Abe's Market recently passed on this info-graphic to it's affiliates about the cost of using throw away lunch products. 

Now, since I'm the only one packing a lunch in my house, my savings would only be about $145, but still, that's $145 I'm throwing away each year. I use a lot of plastic bags, and like individual sized packages of string cheese, chocolate almond milk, and bottled water.  But even more disconcerting is the amount of trash that is being produced by this throw away mindset.

I have made some changes recently to try and be better.  My husband bought a better water purification system for the kitchen (city water is the worst- yuck), and I'm trying to get away from buying bottled water.  I've been getting in the habit of making jello or pudding at home and pouring it in my own containers that are reusable and have lids.  I've also been thinking about getting some of those cloth sandwich and snack bags.  I have this picture in my head of crusty, smelly fabric bags, but I'm sure they're not that bad.

Abe's has a lot of choices in eco friendly lunch wares too.  Like these:

Blue Water Bento Stainless Steel Lunch Box Kit

Oval Eco Stainless Steel Food Container Lunchbox Set 2 Pack

Food Storage Container Apple Green 8 Oz 3 Pack

So do you pack a lunch either for you or your kiddos?  If so, what tips can you give to pack a greener lunch.  Also, got any tips to keep lunch from becoming boring?  I'm always looking for new things to try for work lunches.

And if you're thinking of ordering anything from Abe's, they're offering free shipping for the next few days, so be sure to take advantage of that.  No coupon code needed.

Note: This is a sponsored post from Abe's Market.  All links are affiliate links.  But I only choose companies that I would use myself.  I've ordered from Abe's several times and have always been happy with the quality and service I receive.