"Green" school food

Children need to be more friendly - environmentally friendly, that is!  Green food means more than eating broccoli and string beans.  Here are some ideas you can implement at home for your own children and at school with your students:

1. As a PTO parent, volunteer to use reusable plates for the next party. Naturally, you will be in total charge of bringing them and picking them up to sanitize in your dishwasher.  Another green party idea is to use cloth napkins that you wash with bleach and store with the plates for the next party.  I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it will save much space in the local landfill!
2. If you send your child with water for lunch, use a green reusable bottle.  Make sure it is BPA free like this Water Bottle.  During warm weather, fill it the night before and freeze it for a frosty drink at lunch the next day.
3. The rest of the lunch can be green also: Use reusable containers for sandwiches and snacks.  Avoid using packaged items that have plastic trash associated with them.  My favorite is the Fit & Fresh Fruit and Veggie Bowl.  When I was working, I could take my veggies and dip with me!
4. Remember that the lunch bag itself can be green.  Here are the directions to make a reusable canvas bag at the top of my recipes page: http://reneeheiss.com/Recipes.html.  If you can't sew, then consider buying a reusable lunch bag: Equinox Organic Cotton Lunch Bag.  The neat thing about both of these options is that your children can personalize them with fabric or permanent markers :-)

By the way, this product has the tote, bottle, and containers: New Wave Enviro Products Lunchopolis Lunch Box.  It gets mixed reviews, so I guess it depends on how hard your kids treat their lunch box!

Happy green parenting and green teaching!