Plastic baggies have been a common sight in packed lunches of children and adults for years. They are super handy, and a great way to keep a sandwich fresh, or a snack contained and clean. However, they are made from non-renewable fossil fuels, and are usually sent to the landfill after only one use! Fabric or reusable snack bags area more sustainable option, but are they worth it? How do reusable snack bags work in real life?
- Better for the Earth – the EPA reports only 1%-3% of the 380 billion plastic bags used each year are recycled. Reusable bags stops that cycle of waste.
- Saves Money – using these bags over the whole school year will cost less than buying boxes of the little plastic baggies.
- Super Durable – the reusable fabric bags are much more durable than flimsy plastic film. They won’t break open in your purse or diaper bag.
- Easy to DIY – you can easily make your own snack bags using recycled materials from around your house! (More on this later…).
- Fun fabric – there are tons of fun prints available for every age.
- Easy to wash – toss in with a delicate load or hand wash with the rest of the dishes.
- Reusable, but also lightweight.
- If you don’t make them yourself, the upfront cost seems a little high, but they will last all year, if not longer
- Can get yucky if you forget to rinse them out at the end of the day
We are just starting the kids-in-school part of our lives. My oldest starts an all day transitional kindergarten program in less than two weeks (although I was sure he was just born not too long ago…). With the school days, come packed lunches, and with packed lunches comes the what/how to pack conundrum.
With our Real Food eating habits, our lunches tend to be small piles of fresh fruits, cut up veggies, nuts, cubes of cheese, or slices of whole grain bread. I like putting these in baggies, as individually packing in glass containers like these gets too heavy for a little guy’s backpack. Reusable baggies are much easier to fit into any lunch container, are lightweight, and can be found (or made) in fabrics that suit everyone.
I found a cool tutorial on Pinterest for making your own using small pieces of fabric and recycled plastic grocery bags for the liner! I decided to go for it! They were super easy, and it was fun to have the satisfaction of using up some of our collection of Target bags.
How To Make Reusable Snack Bags with a Recycled Liner (detailed tutorial with pics at Happy Hour Projects)
- Fuse together 3 layers of plastic shopping bags – iron on super low heat between parchment paper
- Cut out matching rectangles of plastic sheeting and fun fabric
- Sew right sides together, leaving a small gap and turn inside out, and topstitch all the way around
- Fold the fabric in half, fold one side back down (like this) and do a quick stitch around the sides.
THAT’S IT! It’s so simple anyone who can use an iron, scissors and sew a straight line can do it! these bags come together pretty quickly. I got three done one afternoon while my girls were napping, even with my 4 year old “helping”.
The tutorial above makes an old school “fold over” type of bag. I also made some bags that sealed with a Velcro square closure, and another with a full Velcro strip closure (like a zipper, but with Velcro). I just used some cotton fabric scrap I had left over from other projects. I was really pleased with the results!
Using the Bags
Whether you make your own, or order some cute pre-made snack bags, you use them just as you would any other snack bag. I’ve found the fold over bags the easiest to use once you get the hang of flipping the pouch over just right. The bags are soft and flexible, but also sturdy and strong. After about three months of regular use, our bags show no signs of wear. The kids love them and jostle each other to pick out their favorite fabrics whenever I’m packing a lunch.
While these would probably do fine on the delicate cycle of the washing machine, I find it much easier to hand wash along with the dishes each night. Usually the just need a quick rinse or internal wipe down with a sponge. I turn them inside out to dry and they are ready again he next morning.
I highly recommend using these reusable snack bags! They are great for wet (damp not dripping) or dry food, are sturdy, easy to wash, and can be made or purchase in fabrics suitable for all members of the family. I found them quick and easy to make when following this tutorial. If craftiness isn’t your thing, these bags are a good price, and come with great reviews.
Have you ever tried reusable snack bags? What’s you’re favorite on-the-go snack?