If you've been feeling guilty lately about all that plastic-wrapped, tinfoil or reclosable stuff that goes into your kids' knapsacks or your own picnic basket, then piles up in landfills, Traverse City's
Eco Lunch Gear has a zero-waste solution: colorful, reusable, machine- or hand-washable sandwich bags.
They're made of quick-drying, 100 percent fair-trade organic cotton, lined with nylon, sealed with Velcro and when fully open, lay flat and can be used as a 13- by 15-inch placemat. There's even a label sewn onto the front for your kid's name so nobody gets confused about whose lunch is whose.
The product is the brainchild of mom and lunch-packer Tina Beatty, whose line includes sandwich bags, large and small snack bags, cinch sacks and cloth napkins that have just been certified by Green America and listed in its
Green Pages.
What about drippy noses? Beatty even designed fabric pouches that you can stuff with tissues from home for less packaging waste. And they look good -- and smart.
Sound good? Yes, indeed. Prices range from $9 for the sandwich bag to $14 for four napkins, all in hip colors that you want to see again and again.
Writer: Patty LaNoue Stearns
Source: Tina Beatty
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