Green Options

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy (see proformagreen.com). John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

Debco now offers a number of lunchtime totes made from at least 25% recycled content. These bags demonstrate the growing trend to make practical, green items available to marketers.

And with the slowing economy I would remind Ecopreneurists that there is likely a much wider audience for these bags as more and more folks are bringing lunch to the office both for economic (it is cheaper than eating out) and health (bringing in healthy foods and avoiding fast foods) reasons.

Simple non woven insulated lunch coolers like the Debco Bag #NW4517 are EQP $3.04 with a one color imprint. The Debco Bag #NW6915 (a square shape designed) are EQP $3.42.  Available in black, red, lime green and royal blue, the bag we seem to be having the most success with is the Debco Bag #NW4694 non woven 100 gram polypropylene insulated cooler pictured to the right. All these bags are made from 25% recycled material, and Debco lists them as biodegradable on the Debco website.

When I first started blogging almost two years ago, I encountered Jennifer McCann’s Vegan Lunch Box blog.   I was inspired by this stay-at-home mom and her lunches, and I looked to her as a model for my own blogging experience. Recently, I acquired Jennifer’s book Vegan Lunch Box: 130 Amazing, Animal-Free Lunches Kids and Grown-Ups Will Love!

I am not a vegan, although I have been, but I am a vegetarian. Both of my children have made their own choice to be vegetarian, which pretty much means the National School Lunch Program is not for them, as pointed out by Erik Marcus in the foreward to Jennifer’s book.  I am also not much of a morning person, so getting a healthy meal packed for my children each morning is challenging and stressful while making them breakfast. I have found Jennifer’s book Vegan Lunch Box has helped alleviate this problem.

The recipes in Vegan Lunch Box are very kid-friendly!  From sweet potato oven fries to coconut carrot rice pudding, my children love their vegan lunches! This book has more than just great vegan recipes, it also includes:

Lovin’ Fresh is a series of recipes designed to showcase produce gathered from local farms or grown in my own garden. 

I really enjoy chowing down on these fast little burritos; something about the couscous is so unexpected and surprisingly filling.  They make the perfect quicky lunch, at home or school or work.  Or in the park when you’re playing hooky from one of the above…

The fillings, aside from the couscous (it’s what makes these puppies fun and unique so don’t skip that), can be whatever is in season.  Right now I’m getting literally buckets of cherry tomatoes from my gardens and a few green peppers so those immediately went into my burritos.  I sometimes add a little scrambled egg for protein.  I bet some bits of grilled chicken thrown in would be tasty too if you’ve got some on hand. 

This post, by our own Cassie Walker, was originally published on Friday, August 1, 2008

Over 80 million children and adults are enrolled in schools across the nation, representing about one-fourth of the population age three and older. With all of these students headed back to school, it’s no wonder that this period has become so important to retailers. August clothing sales, alone, are second only to the holidays in terms of dollars spent.

But before you head off to the mall willy-nilly, stop to think about how you can make choices to reduce your environmental impact.

You are what you wear (in junior high, at least)

First, the most important category to many kids: clothes. Of course, the greenest thing to do is to wear last-year’s clothes. Exaggerated eye roll. Hand-me-downs? Irritated stare. Thrift stores? “Gah-ross!” (Hint: try calling it “vintage”–much cooler.) And so the challenge begins.

From the time my daughter started kindergarten, I have always sent cloth napkins in her lunch. She has been very responsible about returning them home, and if I should forget one day, it is one of the first things she tells me when I pick her up from school. She knows that cloth napkins are better for the earth, but I think they also remind her a little bit of home during her meal at school.

While reading Green Mom Finds, I discovered Fabkins and knew my daughter would love to have her own special set of cloth napkins. Fabkins are cloth napkins especially designed for children, complete with a place on the tag for a child’s name. According to Fabkins, cloth napkins are great for kids because they:

• Make mealtime more fun
• Reduce paper waste
• Encourage good table manners
• Teach environmental awareness

Tuna has been quite the newsworthy fish lately, popping up in all kinds of reports. The New York Times ran an article last month on dangerous levels of mercury in tuna used in sushi. A recent post on Sustainablog takes a look at the safety of canned tuna as well.

If you’re concerned about health risks (or have given up fish for other reasons), but can’t get enough of that lunchtime staple, here’s a simple recipe for an alternative to traditional tuna salad:

1 Can of chickpeas (Bonus points if you can soak them yourself. Find instructions here.)
2 Heaping tablespoons of mayonnaise, or alternative (My favorite is eggless Vegenaise.)
1 Tablespoon flax seed oil
1 Medium carrot, shredded
1/3 Cup chopped celery
4-5 Sprigs of dill, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Today’s guest blogger is Environmental Defense scientist Tim Fitzgerald.

Last month’s New York Times report on high mercury levels in tuna sushi was certainly cause for concern for serious sushi lovers. (See my previous post Plenty of Safe, Eco-Friendly Fish in the Sea.)

The report might have also made many parents uneasy about the ubiquitous tuna sandwich in their kids’ lunch boxes. Many of us rely on canned tuna for a wholesome, high-protein meal. Once considered a “nuisance food” or “pauper’s food,” today almost half of all American households serve canned tuna monthly. Only shrimp surpasses canned tuna as Americans’ favorite seafood. But does this beloved fish in a can deliver a helping of toxic mercury, too?

This recipe is perfect for anytime, but it makes a perfect accompaniment to a traditional English tea. Makes 5 whole sandwiches, 10 halves, or 20 quarters

Ingredients
1-1/2 pounds tofu, extra firm or super firm*
1/2 cup eggless mayonnaise (Nayonnaise and Vegenaise are great, but Wildwood’s Garlic Aioli is my fave)
2 red bell peppers, finely chopped
4 scallions (white and green parts), finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
3 stalks celery,

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Editor’s note: Interested in being as green at work as you are at home? Lighter Footstep’s Chris Baskind provides some great tips for practicing environmental stewardship in the office. This post was originally published earlier today (August 16, 2007).

In business, going green is more than a marketing slogan: it’s the new way of doing things. It’s an edge — a method by which you can improve your company’s bottom line

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During our school's waste audit, lunch waste was a large percentage of what was thrown out daily. All of those individually wrapped chips, cookies, pre-packaged cracker and cheese combos, and juice boxes add up, as do the plastic and paper sacks they are packed in. In fact, it has been estimated that the average school-aged child packing a lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. Fortunately, parents

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