With two little ones in Elementary this year, packing lunch is a daily chore. When they aren't buying, I'm packing. With sandwiches, snacks, veggies, and fruit, we go though a lot of ziploc bags.

I discovered a way to keep your cost low and help the environment all at the same time!

ReUsies



ReUsies, are a reusable alternative to plastic sandwich and snack bags. Each bag comes in different sizes and designs. Our favorite designs are the Flower Chain design and the Baseball themed bag.

If you think about it, a typical lunch box contains at least three plastic bags. That's close to 1,000 bags per year, PER PERSON! I got a little "schooling" from the Moms who invented ReUsies on how this impacts the environment and how WE can help:

Impact

-Plastic bags make up over 10% of debris found on US Coastlines.

-Every plastic bag we use will be around for centuries, long after our children outgrow their lunchboxes.

-Each plastic bag takes over 1,000 years to break down. Plastic bags do not biodegrade, they photodegrade whereby over time they breakdown into smaller, more toxic petropolymers.

-Less than 1% of plastic bags are recycled. It costs more to recycle a plastic bag than to produce a new one.

Solution

-By taxing plastic bags with a “plastax” many countries and some US cities are reducing consumption. Ireland has decreased their reliance on plastic bags by 90% after imposing these new taxes!

-Purchasing alternatives to plastic bags. Each ReUsies™ has the potential to eliminate hundreds of plastic bags.




Our friends at ReUsies, were kind enough to send over two bags for my family to review. We received both the snack and sandwich sized bags and were immediately impressed with how these are made. They are very lightweight, colorful, and SO easy to clean! ReUsies are 100% cotton lined with leak-resistant nylon and are secured with velcro closures.

I love how much room your sandwhich and/or snacks have. The ReUsie Sandwich bag can hold a typical "grown up" sandwich or large bagel. When I packed my daughter's lunch, her sandwich slid right in and closed securely. In addition, my kids were ecstatic that the bags are so easy to open too! There's nothing like a hungry child in the cafeteria struggling to open their lunch!

Momma Improvements

There is one Momma Improvement I'd like to mention:

Closure: Although the velcro DOES keep each bag close securely, there is no seal to keep from air seeping in. Although this isn't a big deal to me, my husband thought it would take some getting used to knowing food was not air sealed in.

On that note, I absolutely love the whole concept of ReUsies. The kids love all the fun colors, you save money, and help the environment all at the same time. That is TOTALLY cool in my book!

Buy It

You can purchase your own ReUsies bag by visiting: www.reusies.com. Prices vary from $6.75 for snack size and $8.75 for sandwich size. Through September 30th, join in on their Back to School special by using coupon code SCHOOL for free shipping!