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Green with Children

By Alix Clyburn | Back To the Blog

Bag the bag

09:50 am - August 15, 2007

They collectively weigh less than 75 lbs, but my children generate staggering quantities of waste. Most of it revolves around meals. In the name of almighty convenience—a concept so central to our American ideal that I swear it is in the Declaration of Independence somewhere—children's food is increasingly being packaged in ever smaller "individual snack-sized" portions. This poses a formidable temptation to a busy mom who is trying to "green" her family. It's a challenge to resist, but I just want to pack a lunch, picnic, or snack that does not contain as much garbage as it does food.

I decided to start with the Ziploc bags. Every day we go through too many to count. And with two boys, every snack needs to be parceled into two bags since he who holds the bag holds the power. Leafing through a Domino magazine one night, I noticed a spread about showing a sophisticated summer picnic. The tony affair pictured—smiling, well-coiffed, relaxed grownups conversing and sipping wine—held no connection with my reality, but I noticed that the sandwiches were wrapped in these adorable plastic-lined gingham squares with Velcro closures. Called "wrap-n-mats," they seemed a perfect alternative, at least for sandwiches and other big items. I vowed to order some, and promptly lost the magazine.

Lo and behold when I moved to Maplewood, NJ, I discovered that my neighborhood coffee shop sold wrap-n-mats at their counter. It was destiny. What's more, the variety offered included fabrics far more exciting to young boys than gingham, like the skulls print both my sons selected. Each day of summer camp, Dexter's deconstructionist sandwich (2 pieces of wheat bread and 6 slices of pepperoni) is tucked into his wrap-n-mat.

Since buying the wrap-n-mats I've learned that maybe they aren't such a green find. Apparently, studies have discovered that the PEVA plastic lining may leach hormone-disrupting phthalates. I don't exactly know what they are, but the spelling alone is enough to scare me off. (I do find the ongoing learning process I'm taking myself through is making me feel like a better mom.) I'm on the lookout for equally stylish alternatives to my skull-printed sandwich wraps, but in the meantime I've found a good option: certified organic cotton canvas lunch sacks from Ecobags ($6; www.ecobags.com, 800-720-2247).

Sandwiches and other big items were handled. But what about the snacks? I'm not ready to lead a baggie-free life yet, so I'd need to turn snack time into a lesson in sharing. Like my gardening that masquerades as meaningful lessons about Mother Nature, I would turn my own efforts to "go green" into a learning opportunity for my children.

"I wanna hold the bag!" screeched Dexter when I handed back a pretzel from the driver's seat. "BAG!" yelled his far more succinct two-year old brother Julius. "Listen boys," I said in a careful tone of loving calm. "There is only one bag. It's wasteful for each of you to have your own—"

"BAG!!" screamed Julius.

"Noooooo, I wanna hold it!!" whined Dexter, elevating his decibel level to be heard over his brothers and punctuating his whine with the start of a synthetic but not unirritating wail. Clearly this sharing the bag thing would be a tough one.

"How about no snacks at all?" I snapped, my loving calm replaced by the stern voice that I delude myself into thinking really sends the "I mean business" message. The response from the back seat of the car is a cacophony of wails, plaintive sobs and the occasional pathetic sniffle of "Bag...bag..." It was getting hard to concentrate on the road with all the screaming in back. Al Gore was right: Facing the truth about the environment is enormously inconvenient.

Uncharacteristically, I held firm and the tears subsided. Over time, the boys have slowly come to accept the notion that they take turns holding the bag and are now perfect angels with never a murmur of fuss. Well, not exactly, but they do inspire me with their ability to learn and integrate new habits into their life quickly.

I have only begun down this path to a completely green lunchbox, but at least I'm moving in the right direction. I confess that applesauce in my fridge is still contained in "individual snack paks," but now we re-use the containers for paint or other art supplies. We pack reusable containers whenever we can and even reuse Ziploc bags if they're clean (much to the disgust of my husband, who says I'm acting like a batty old lady when I wipe clean a Ziploc and tuck it in the drawer.)

With a little poking around on TheGreenGuide.com I found more ways to stop the madness of the individual snack-sized garbage onslaught. I have banned the juicebox, replacing it with a Klean Kanteen drinking bottle from www.greenfeet.com. These metal bottles also keep my children from sucking up some hormone-disrupting bisphenol A from #7 plastic water bottles. Yes, another threat I had no idea I was supposed to be scared about.

For the truly converted, you can even order cellophane wraps and bags made from the cellulose of well-managed cottonwood trees. It's not cheap ($20.50/12 in. x 110 ft. roll), but it is biodegradable. You can also order compostable forks and spoons made from GMO-free potatoes ($4.25/50 forks or spoons. (www.greenearthofficesupply.com, 800-327-8449).

The best lesson for me in all this is that coming late to the "go green" party is a clever trick for the lazy and harassed. As I work toward reducing my family's carbon footprint, I can follow a trail blazed by smarter more resourceful souls who have walked before me. They're making this road a lot easier for me.

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© The Green Guide, 2008

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plastic food storage bags
posted by jlppoet on 2007-08-15 15:38:22  

There is no doubt zipper style food storage bags are a huge convenience but the waste! Yikes! Why don't you try Bag-E-Wash - it works with sandwich size to gallon size bags and fits into any dishwasher for clean and effective washing. Cool little gadget, big impact. For $10 you can stop buying bags and wash and reuse the bags you got. Test bags went through 50 washings and dryings - that's amazing. Check it out - www.bag-e-wash.com. It's Coop America Approved!

think twice about washing bags
posted by danilevitt on 2007-08-16 11:02:36  

I reuse baggies that are dry and relatively clean. Have you thought about the dangers of washing plastic baggies (or anyting) in the dishwasher where they are exposed to high heat? The heat can speed up the leaching of bad stuff from the bags.

Leaching
posted by jlppoet on 2007-08-17 19:41:27  

I understand your concern. The research I have studied all indications polycarbonate plastic (such as water bottles) to be particularly harmful for washing and reusing. Zipper style bags made by Ziploc and Glad are made of 100% polyethelene. They contain no dioxin, plasticizers or BPA (the big nasty ingredient most closely linked to leaching). I have been eliminating plastic food storage bags from my waste stream for almost 5 years now. It's great.

Bag the Bag
posted by Jeri on 2007-08-27 10:56:56  

I wash and re-wash all my baggies that haven't held raw meat. The gadget that makes this a snap is the Countertop Bag Dryer that allows air to get into the bag and dry it very quickly. It can be purchased at www.gaiam.com for a cost of $19. You have to take the time to hand wash them, but it's still the best answer I've found to this dilemma so far.

containers instead
posted by spaycanjil11 on 2007-09-12 07:34:40  

I've switched from using baggies to using reusable plastic & glass containers. Chips, veggies, pretzels and even Jellow and yogurt. I bought some from Ikea that were the perfect size for sandwiches and chips and Pampered Chef makes a great little glass bowl with lid. It's 3/4 cup in size and it perfect for making my own Jellow snacks or taking yogurt with me to work. I'm not sure if this would work with little one's, but my husband seemed to remember to bring things home fairly quickly :-)

PEVA versus PVC
posted by uniqorn7 on 2007-09-12 15:51:21  

Not that there aren't any concerns with PEVA, but I think that in your blog you are confusing PEVA plastic (considered the somewhat environmentally friendly plastic) with PVC, which has been shown to leach phthalates. Food for thought.

baggies and containers
posted by glindholm on 2007-09-20 00:03:44  
baggies and containers and more
posted by glindholm on 2007-09-20 00:21:42  

ziplock type bags: can usually be simply rinsed out or washed with soap, then hang to dry on the tools sticking out of the cooking tool pot (make sure it's on the counter and not the stove!) I throw out ones that held raw meat. Usually the zipper lock goes before the bag!

Also, clean and resue the plastic containers and lids that come from buying bulk, prepped or packaged food items at the store (like olives, grated cheese, salads, etc.) They wash just as easily by hand as the kind you buy, even can stand a little vinegar or bleach if needed for odor or stains. (Don't put in the dishwasher though, they'll melt.) You can even write on them with a Sharpie and not feel bad about ruining that expensive plastic container!

Grocery plastic bags - perfect for small trash can liners, makes disposing of trash easy and quick, and lessens how often you have to wash the can!

Grocery paper bags - great for collecting goods and clothes for donation or garage sales. Go through an do a clean out of drawers/closets every few months. Also, some stores like Whole Foods take them back. Just collect a bunch in on sack and drop it off when you shop. They may do this for plastic too, but I usually use those up.

Dryer softner sheets - when used, perfect for cleaning off your lint screen really well. (I collect them in a box on the dryer.) Also, used sheets are great to as a substitute micro-duster "floor wipe", just flatten one out and put on the floor sweeper as you would a store bought wipe. Especially good for doing an initial or interim sweep before using the real deal (saves money because you'll use fewer of the store bought wipes). The used ones are also handy for quick cleaning electrostatic lint off tv's, monitors, glass tables, even wooden molding or wooden shutters. You can always follow up with a microcloth or wet cleaning when needed. (Be careful to keep all the used dryer sheets off the floor and contained so that they can't get under or behind your dryer - don't want any fires!.

foil reuse
posted by glindholm on 2007-09-20 00:28:01  

If you have an outdoor grill, the best way to clean the gunk off the grates is to put foil on tehm and leave it burning until all the food and carbon is cooked off or turns to ash to be scraped off. Used foil is great for this! When you have some, just go ahead and spread it out over the grill grates, and the next time you fire it up, let the foil do its work.


posted by misslynx on 2008-06-12 17:59:06  

I've never heard any allegations of PEVA leaching nasties - like someone else said, I think you may be thinking of PVC, which is typically softened with phthalates. I've usually seen PEVA recommended as a non-toxic, environmentally safe alternative. (Well, as environmentally benign as any plastic can be, anyway...)

Also - I'm actually kind of surprised that anyone considers ziplock bags single-use items! I've always washed and reused them, and you don't need a special gadget or a dishwasher for that. As long as they just held some kind of relatively normal food and not raw meat or something, just give them a few swipes inside with a soapy sponge and rinse with warm water. And I hang them up to dry on the fridge using one of those magnets that has a little clip on it for holding coupons etc.