Reusable Lunch/Snack Bags

A couple weeks ago we ran out of sandwich bags and Costco was out of them too when I went to buy them.  I have long been aggravated by the idea that I'm throwing away so many plastic bags after just one or two uses, so then I remembered that there are companies that make reusable lunch/snack bags!  I remembered seeing some Planet Wise ones at Grow Natural in Fullerton.  At this point I decided I would do some Amazon research on reusable bags.  I bought three different brands of top-rated bags, and all have very different features.  Here's a photo of them all:

First, on the far left is a set of three Lunch Skins bags.  They feature tough Velcro all the way across the bag and flap.  The fabric is used by professional bakers, though I'm not sure what for, perhaps also for storage.  They're toxin free.  They're supposed to be dishwasher safe, but I ran them through and the Velco is a little crumpled, so I will probably rarely do that.  I will likely just turn them inside-out to wash like the other bags we got.  What makes these even more awesome is they're sewn by a local family business in the US!  I purchased the set of three off Amazon for $25.

Second, the black bags with the green monster flaps are Re-Usies.  They're cloth on the outside, so if that gets wet while washing, they'll take longer to dry than the other two sets I got.  The flap has the Velcro running vertical across it and the bag, so there's less closure to the bag than the Lunch Skins.  The flap can wrap around to the back where there's another piece of vertical Velcro, which is helpful for wrapping up very small snacks.  These are also free of toxins, but aren't dishwasher safe.  The label says you can throw them in the washing machine, but the fabric may fade, it warns.  These bags also come in an abundance of different fabrics!  I got the set off Amazon for $16.

Third, I wanted to try a wrap, well, I want Joseph and Sarah to try a wrap because I rarely take any food to go right now.  Anyways, on the far right is the Food Kozy by Kids Konserve.  As you can see it's circular and has vertical strips of Velcro on it for closing the wrap.  It can double as a place mat, which is pretty cool.  It's also toxin free, and is easy to wash, rinse, and dry.  It seems like this would be best to use with sandwiches and not snacks, though.  I got this set of two (because they're orange) for only $8.01 off Amazon.

Now, I'm also wishing I got zippered snack bags because Joseph likes to take oats, granola, and craisins to put in his yogurt, which wouldn't stay in one of these bags well.  I'm going to look into those for my next Amazon purchase.  I'll update you the verdict of these three reusable options in a few weeks.

Of course, another alternative to this is plasticware, commonly known as Tupperware.  If you have a lot of it already, use it for your lunches and snacks!  We don't have a ton of plasticware, so I decided to get some of these bags.  The bags are also less bulky too.