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Send them off to school with a clear, eco-friendly conscience.
Pack a No-Waste Lunch Box
The idea of lunch brought to and from school in a paper or plastic bag seems so '80s, but the use of an actual lunch box or reusable sack (although they've been around for years, too) is back in style, and choices in material, colors and sizes make your eco-friendly options all the easier.
Save a few trees by using cloth napkins and do your part by lessening landfill waste with reusable utensils. Both can be ported back home the same way they found their way to school: within a lunch box or reusable sack.
Steer clear of prepackaged foods, juice boxes and pouches, which create even more unnecessary hardship on our precious land.
And finally, pack your food and drink in reusable containers. Just think of all the money you'd save per child per school year if you packed just two snacks and a drink in reusable containers.
Lunch Box Alternatives
So, you've gone the distance and prepared your own food. Now it's time to consider your lunch box of choice to put it in.
Laptop Lunch Boxes were created by two eco-conscious moms about seven years ago when the savvy pair realized that the best way to help parents pack wholesome, low-waste lunches was to "provide them with a lunch system that was not only convenient and economical, but also appealing to kids." Thus, the Laptop Lunch Box was born. Made of lead-free plastic, its unique design, reminiscent of a bento box, features single-serve individual containers, reusable utensils, a water or juice bottle and a handy carrying case.
If lunch sacks made from organic cotton or recycled plastic soda bottles are more your children's bag, reusablebags.com offers a cool selection too -- some even come with nontoxic reusable freezer packs.
Include Fun, Organic Snacks That Rival the Vending Machine
Here's a short list of kiddie crowd-pleasers to chew on:
FruitaBü Fruit Leathers: A convenient, organic and fun way to enjoy fruit when you can't find the real deal out of season.
Peeled Snacks>: A great find for the "grab and go" set, Peeled Snacks offers dried fruits and nuts made with no added sugars or oils.
Sweet Earth Fair Trade Certified Chocolates: Organic and vegan chocolate peanut butter cups? We venture no kids will complain about getting peanut butter in their chocolate or vice versa with these hard-to-resist candies made with social consciousness in mind.
Annie's Bunny Grahams: These sweet treats give mainstream graham crackers a run for their money. Made with organic wheat flour and no hydrogenated oils, they're also a great choice for those with milk allergies -- they're dairy-free.
End the Sandwich Doldrums
Kids like to play with their food and eat with their hands (some of us adults still relish those activities, too.) Get them involved in making the foods that they'll be taking for their lunches.
Burritos, quesadillas, soft tacos and wraps are all great sandwich alternatives and travel well in a lunch box. Spend some time with them in the garden choosing vegetables, take them shopping and have them pick out different ingredients like vegetables, fruit, healthy snacks and whole grain pastas for the recipes you make together.
Want to take a more proactive approach to ensure that school cafeteria food meets your green standards? Check out the Farm to School Program, which partners schools and local farmers. This program includes farm visits, farmers' visits to classrooms and students participating in a wide variety of agricultural experiential education programs. The USDA National Farm to School Program is another alternative that works with schools to not only connect them with small local farms to increase the amount of locally grown food served in schools, but also provides health and nutrition education opportunities for teachers, parents and students by means of farm visits, classroom education and school garden opportunities. And one last suggestion: The O'Mama Report offers Eleven Tips for Change that helps you map out a plan for getting organic foods into your school district.
用一颗纯洁的环保之心送孩子们上学。
做一个没有废弃物的午餐盒
把午餐用纸张或塑料袋包好带去学校再带回来看起来完全像是在80年代发生的事情，不过使用午餐盒或者可重复使用的布袋（虽然它们也已经用了很多年了）还是落伍了。材质、颜色和尺寸的选择可能性会使你的环保变得容易许多。
使用餐巾布能少砍伐几颗树木，利用可重复使用的器皿来为减少垃圾掩埋尽到自己的一份力量。装在午餐盒或者环保袋里，餐巾布和环保器皿都可以被带去学校，再从学校带回家。
绕开预先包装的食品，果汁盒和袋子，这些东西会给我们宝贵的地球带来不必要的困扰。
最后，用环保容器来装食品。就想想如果用环保容器来装两份快餐和一份饮料，每个孩子每学年可以节省多少钱吧。
午餐盒的替代品
所以，你已坚持到底准备你自己的食物。现在来考虑一下你的午餐盒里可以放些什么吧。
便携式午餐盒是由两位具有环保意识的母亲在7年前发明的，当两位富有生活经验的母亲意识到帮助父母们准备有益的、减少浪费的午餐的最好办法就是提供一套不仅方便、经济而且受孩子们喜欢的午餐程序。这样，便携式午餐盒便诞生了。盒子由不含铅的塑料制成，它的独特设计令人回想起饭盒，由分开的单独容器、环保器皿、一个装水或果汁的瓶子和一个顺手的手提箱组成。
如果你孩子的午餐布袋更多的是用有机棉或者再生的塑料苏打水瓶制成，环保袋网站提供了时髦的精选产品——其中的一些甚至带有无害的环保冰盒。
包括挑战贩卖机的趣味有机快餐
这里是孩子们喜欢吃的东西的简要清单：
·果泥干：是在找不到这一水果的反季节里方便、有机和美味的享用水果的方法。
·去皮的零食：速食套餐的伟大发现，有不添加糖和油的水果干和坚果。
·甜土自由贸易认证巧克力：有机素食巧克力花生酱纸杯？我们打赌孩子们不会对着这些体现了人们的头脑中的社会意识的诱人的糖果抱怨巧克力里面的花生酱或是花生酱里的巧克力。
·安妮兔宝宝全麦饼干：这些甜点会对主流的全麦饼干形成竞争压力。由有机小麦粉制成，不含氢化油，也是牛奶过敏者的最佳选者——因为他们是脱脂的。
结束三明治带来的闷闷不乐
孩子们喜欢把食品拿来玩，然后用手来吃（我们中的一些成年人也依然钟情于这些行为），使得他们愿意制作午餐食物。
墨西哥玉米煎饼、起司饼、软饼、卷饼都可以是很好的三明治的替代品，也便于用午餐盒携带。制作这些食物，需要花一些时间在花园里挑选蔬菜，为你同时制作的菜谱挑选不同的成分，如蔬菜、水果、健康的零食和全部的谷物面食。
想要采取更为主动的方法来确保学校自助餐厅里的食物符合你的绿色标准吗？看看农场至学校项目吧，这一项目将学校和当地农民联系在一起，八廓农场参观、农民参观教室和学生参加各种各样的农业实验教育项目。USDA国家农场至学校项目是另一项可替代的将学校与当地小农场联系起来的项目，用以提高向学校提供的当地食品的自产量，同时通过参观农场、课堂教育和学�；ㄔ暗仁侄挝淌�、家长和学生提供了健康和营养的教育机会。最后的建议是：在《噢，妈妈报告》里为帮助你制定有机食品进入校区计划提供的11个改变的建议。
