Green Product Review: 100% Bamboo Lunch Bag
July 15, 2009 by Jennifer
Now that fall is quickly coming up on us, you’ll need to find your kids a nice lunch bag or lunch box. Preferably a sustainable option. Today I’ve got a review of one option…
Product: Environmentally-Friendly 100% Bamboo Lunch Bag from New Wave Enviro Products
Basics: 100% Bamboo Lunch Bag; reusable, good for kids or adults.
Cost: $17.79
Eco-perks:
Waste-Free Lunches notes on average one school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That’s about 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school. Reusable lunch sacks cut down on this incredible waste.
Bamboo is one of the more sustainable fabrics available. Bamboo Fabric Store notes, “Bamboo (unlike cotton) takes in five times the volume of greenhouse gasses as an equivalent stand of timber trees and releases 35% more oxygen. It needs no replanting, pesticides or fertilizers, and its roots retain water in the watershed, sustaining riverbanks and reducing water pollution.”
Bamboo is naturally anti-microbial. According to research by Japan Textile Inspection Association, after factoring in processing and fifty washes, bamboo fabrics still retain their anti-fungal, anti-bacterial nature.
What I think:
Product pros…
This lunch sack is sooooooo super soft. It’s really lightweight but large enough to hold plenty of food in containers and even a small water bottle. I like the eco-perks obviously as well. There’s a heavy-weight snap that keeps the lunch sack closed and the handles are perfectly sized for kids. The bag seems well made and can be hand washed with mild soap. I also like that the bottom of the bag opens square and flat, not rounded like a bag.
Product cons…
The handles are too short for adult shoulder wear, but I still think this bag works well for adults, you just need to carry it by the handles. There’s only one color choice (green – shown above). I’m not sure how this bamboo is processed which does make a difference when it comes to sustainability. I’m also unsure if this bamboo is organically grown. Although New Wave Enviro Products notes that this bamboo is grown without chemicals or pesticides, the bag is not certified by Oeko-Tex, Soil Association, SKAL, or KRAV (the best way to know if your bamboo is sustainable). If it is certified it’s not noted anywhere at the website or on the product itself.
I also don’t think that the packaging is made with recycled materials. It comes in a simple cardboard package that is recyclable, yet the packaging notes this nowhere (they should), and they could use recycled content cardboard too.
Overall score:
Three out of five trees. If this bamboo was certified and if the packaging was more eco-friendly I’d have given this bag five trees because it’s handy, large enough for lunch, and anti-bacterial bamboo. However, it looses two points for the above mentioned issues. Still, I’d recommend it as a decent option for a waste-free lunch bag.
UPDATE!!!: After further use, I’m taking off another half point. This lunch sack is not ice pack friendly which seriously limits the food items you can pack. Because it’s cloth, the ice packs get all leaky in here.
Learn more at New Wave Enviro Products or buy it at Atlantis Natural.
See more eco-lunch options…