As I learned when working on my recent post about the carbon footprint of all kinds of things, we can really reduce the amount of C02 we’re responsible for if we choose vegetarian fare more often, particularly produce from local sources.
So while I’m on vacation this week, I’m going to leave you with a few vegetarian recipes that make great lunches, courtesy of the Homemakers Test Kitchen. And when I get back on Monday, April 11 I’ll be doing a draw at 10 a.m. EST for one terrific set of lunch products from Otterbottle [Update: contest closed! Congratulations to tcpalermo!], including the Insulated Food Containers $21.99, Insulated Drink Container, worth $23.99, the
Insulated Tote Bags, worth $19.99, and the Waterbottle, worth $19.99. It really is a fantastic prize pack! You can find these and other Otterbottle products here; a portion of each purchase goes to the David Suzuki Foundation.
Vegetarian lunch recipes from Homemakers:
- Smoked Gouda and Pepper Sandwich with Curried Cauliflower Salad
- Tuscan Broad Bean Salad
- Florentine Pasta Salad
- West Indian Sweet Potato and Chick Pea Roti
Look for more recipes using our search tool at the top right of the screen.
How do you save waste when packing your lunch? What do you like to pack for lunch?
As I munched my lunch today I was reminded of all of the waste that comes with our everyday lives. I bought a yogurt at a coffee shop, and that yogurt container’s gonna have to make the trek to the recycling plant. I received an interesting note from Canadian company TerraCycle describing how they’re working to “upcycle” waste from common single-use packaging in school lunches.
TerraCycle, in partnership with Kraft Canada, has started a “Brigade” system pays schools and non-profit organizations two cent per package to collect non-recyclable food packaging. TerraCycle has sponsorships to collect Kool-Aid Jammers, Del Monte beverages, Mr. Christie’s Snak Paks and other Mr. Christie cookies and crackers, and Back to Nature nuts and trail mixes.
I don’t have kids, so it’s easy for me to say that it would be best to avoid buying lunch foods that come in non-recyclable packaging. But I can see that, like most problems, a variety of solutions are required, and upcycling waste into other products isn’t a bad one. TerraCycle says that drink pouches will be sewn into durable containers such as tote bags and pencil cases, while cracker wrappers will be fused together into sheets of waterproof fabric, which then can be made into umbrellas, shower curtains, backpacks and placemats.
To sign up for the TerraCycle program, click here.
Have you ever bought or made something constructed with reused something else?
