With many of us back to the office, studies and back to travelling it can be easy to seem like the most convenient lunch option is an old faithful supermarket meal deal, or our favourite take-away spot. But having a plastic free lunch may be easier than you think. It doesn’t have to be time-consuming, or expensive, and starting small can have some seriously positive impacts on our planet!
We’re all familiar with the “build your own” lunch concept, usually consisting of around 3 food items, and a refreshing drink to accompany. A popular choice for those on the go, with no time to pack their own lunch.
But, these items are almost always wrapped in non-recyclable packaging, and are often unable to be recycled due to food contamination. Resulting in the UK generating around 11 billion items of packaging waste from these meal deals alone. Recent studies have also found that our take-away packaging makes up almost half of the items found polluting the sea.
The convenience of these meal deals, and take-aways suddenly doesn’t seem so convenient for our environment. With the packaging from these items sticking around in landfill, and the ocean for centuries to come.
The price points of meal deals also tricks us into buying items we simply don’t need. Even when we have our own reusable water bottle, almost a third of us will buy a plastic water bottle as it is included in the meal deal price. A waste that could have been avoided.
With more of us now than ever purchasing meal deals (almost half of office workers surveyed by Hubbub) it’s important that we look for plastic free alternatives to prevent the waste from piling up.
Convenience doesn’t always have to be wrapped in plastic. Supermarkets and take-aways have a long way to go to help cater to our plastic-free needs, so in the meantime our simple swaps help us to look for ways to reduce our plastic, whilst enjoying our well-deserved lunch:
- Packing your own lunch. This might be more time effective than you think, with many people who have previously made the switch enjoying the cost benefits that come with bringing your own. Try popping it into one of our Organic Cotton Reusable Sandwich/Snack Bags to help keep your food fresh, and plastic free.
- Don’t be afraid to bring your own Reusable Food Container to your favourite takeaway. This way you can still get your take-away treat without the worry of what to do with the waste that comes with it.
- Bringing your own Bamboo Cutlery Set can also help steer away from unnecessary plastic forks and knives. A Bamboo Cutlery Pouch is also a helpful way of storing your reusable cutlery on the go.
- Make the most of your leftovers from the night before. Wrap them up with some Beeswax Food Wraps to help keep your snacks fresh and free from plastic cling film wrap. Not only reducing plastic waste, but also helping to reduce food waste which has significant impacts on carbon emissions.
- Bring along your own Stainless Steel Reusable Water Bottle or Reusable Coffee Cup so you can refill on the go without the stress of appropriately disposing of cups, and plastic bottles.
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