Packing your lunch is not only good for your health, but it’s also great for your wallet. The more that you don’t go out to eat at lunch, the more money that you’ll have for really important things like buying the latest Nintendo Wii game, picking up a birthday present for your mother, and of course, lowering your carbon footprint.

So how can you reduce your carbon footprint with your lunch? When you reduce your carbon footprint you use less energy and most importantly, you create less waste. So if you just make the right decisions when you pack your lunch you can make a great meal and lower your carbon emissions at the same time.

Easy-to-Follow Lunch Packing Tips

I found a great article on Earth 911 that offered some helpful advice on reducing lunch waste. I’ll use their tips, but add some bonus advice as well. The website locations are listed next to the product.

Tip 1 ‘ Pack in a reusable lunchbox instead of a paper or plastic bag.

You can find some eco-friendly lunchboxes below:

• The Lunch Date Hemp Fabric Lunch Bag (At Home Naturally)
• ACME Recycled Lunch Bag (ReusableBags.com)
• Mini Bento Stainless Lunch Jar (Zojirushi)
• Laptop Lunch System (Laptop Lunches)
• Stainless Steel Food Carrier (Kate’s Caring Gifts)
• Reusable Lunch Box Carrier (Etsy.com)

Tip 2 ‘ Pack in reusable containers instead of using foil or Ziploc bags.

Here are some 100% corn plastic containers that are found at RecycledProducts.com:

• Plastic Container with Polypropylene Lid
• Plastic 3 Cup Food Container
• Plastic 3 Section Food Container with Lid

Tip 3 ‘ Bring drinks in a plastic or aluminum water bottle or recycle any aluminum cans and plastic bottles that you may bring with you from home.

These products can follow you wherever you go, and they can be washed both at work and at home. Here are some good containers to bring water and other drinks in:

• Healthy Water Bottles (Eco Express)
• New Wave Enviro Corntainer (WaterCheck.biz)
• Stainless Steel Water Bottle (Klean Kanteen)
• 100% Corn Plastic 16 oz. Cup with Lid (RecycledProducts.com)

Tip 4 ‘ Use cloth napkins instead of throwing away paper napkins.

They’re convenient to use, small enough to carry anywhere and they’re very easy to wash. Many of them are even made from 100% organic cotton. You can order from:

• Hand Woven Organic Kitchen Cotton Napkins (Native Organic Cotton)
• Organic Cloth Napkins (Kasper Organics)
• Certified Organic French Linen Hemstitched Napkins (Rawganique.com)
• Organic Cotton Napkins (Janices.com)
• Organic Cotton Table Napkins (Kushtush Organics)

The best thing about using these products is that most of them are either totally organic (pesticide and herbicide-free), they’re made from recycled material or the companies who make them follow eco-friendly manufacturing processes. So, if you spend a little more money on a few of these items, you can lower your carbon footprint and you won’t have to worry about picking up yours, or anyone else’s, lunch tab.