Enlightened lunch

Taking a lunch to work saves money and will keep you out of the car during your mid-day meal. But packing a lunch isn’t such a good idea if you’re throwing away a bunch of packaging used to transport it.

Instead of brown-bagging your lunch the conventional way, try packing a waste-free lunch. That means when you’re finished eating, you’ll have nothing to throw away. Well, you might have organic things such as banana peels, apple cores or cherry pits, but that’s about it.

Eating a waste-free lunch benefits the environment because it cuts the amount of garbage in our landfills. (And the best way to reduce garbage is not to create it.)

Here are five simple ways to pack a waste-free lunch:

• Carry your meal in a cloth bag or a lunchbox instead of throw-away bags.

• Put individual food items in reusable containers instead of wrapping them in foil and plastic wrap.

• Pour drinks into a thermos or another reusable container.

• Use washable cloth napkins instead of paper products.

• Eat with silverware instead of plastic utensils.

Source: www.globalstewards.org