These days, you don't have to go flashing lead around the school to be accused of being environmentally unfriendly. People are more sensitive now to the ways their lifestyles affect the environment, and that includes what they pack to take to work or school for their lunch. If you want to help the environment more and don't know how, or at least lessen your impact, than these tips for packing a green lunch could start you down a more sustainable path.

Take a Reusable Lunch Bag

The first step to packing a green lunch is to put your lunch in a bag that can be used again and again for every lunchtime while you're taking your English course. Most stores have reusable insulated lunch bags that you can buy for a few dollars, or if you're a crafty person you can make one of your own from scraps of fabric you have lying around. If you have old plastic or paper disposable bags, you can use the same one over and over until it wears out.

Avoid Extra Packaging

You wouldn't buy disposable swim diapers for your baby, so why buy lunch snacks and prepackages goodies that generate a lot of extra material that will end up in a landfill? Bake cookies at home or buy a family pack instead of picking up individually wrapped items. To separate your food, pack it into reusable containers. Whenever possible, avoid plastic wrappings unless they can be recycled. At least paper will compost.

Go Organic

It's not just the packaging you should be concerned with if you want to go green, but the food inside of it as well. Trademark Canada-grown items like potatoes, carrots, and bread come in organic and non-organic versions. Organic is a little more expensive, but it was grown and processed without the chemical pesticides and preservatives that can harm our environment and your health too.

Reuse and Recycle

Your school or workplace should have a recycling bins alongside the used woodworking machines where you can put anything that you do need to discard from your lunches. However, if they don't, never throw your recyclables (pop cans, plastic fruit cups, etc.) into the garbage. Rinse them and pack them back into your lunch bag and take them home. You can reused for the next lunch or turn them into something useful at home, or recycle them in your home bins.