Bring your own lunch - Green Office Tips

In western culture a majority of our time per week is spent in the workplace. At 1 Million Women, we often talk about reducing our carbon footprint at home, but with so many hours per week spent in our places of work, shouldn't we look at our eco-habits in the office too? What about when it comes to the daily lunch hour? With just a little thought and preparation it's easy to pack an eco−friendly lunch to bring from home. You’ll end up with less waste, a healthier lunch, and you will save money by not eating out all the time. There's an abundance of local fresh produce that can be packed in a lunch box, and leftovers are always good too!

Here are some tips for packing an eco-friendly lunch...

1. - Choose a reuseable lunch box: A reuseable lunch box or bag will cut down on the waste of paper or plastic bags.
2. - Use reuseable plastic containers or re-useable sandwich bags: This will cut down on the use of plastic bags which reduces waste and conserves natural resources.
3. - Use a reuseable water bottle or coffee cup: Daily plastic water bottles or single use coffee cups create a lot of unnecessary waste and cost more. Some coffee places even give a discount when you bring your own cup.
4. - Use a cloth napkin - Try this out, you will save a paper napkin every day which is considerable over a year’s time.
5. - Use real silverware instead of plastic utensils: When you pack your bag in the morning, pack your cutlery too. Don't use throwaway plastic utensils, bring your own cutlery and wash them once you get home.
6. - Pack fresh food whenever possible: Pack simple, unprocessed foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. Fresh lunch items cut down on waste and make a healthier lunch, too. Processed foods tend to have a lot more packaging and additives.
7. - Be a good role model: Try to get the whole office involved in bringing there own lunch! and every once in a while, to celebrate the team effort you could eat out somewhere together.
8. - Finally, if you are responsible for others in the office then make sure they have facilities for having lunch, including seating away from their desks, access to a microwave, and a sink for cleaning reusable utensils and food containers.