are paper bags really so bad?

[babymommy2]

I have bought 3 reusable lunch bags ( the fabricy insulated kind) for my 2 kids. (bought an extra as 1 was lost, but now found.) All of them are falling apart, all of them are on their first year of use. The washing machine is destroying them. I'm sure they'll last to the end of the school year, but I doubt useful next year. My child's school has a policy that they are not allowed to throw food away, so he brings home half eaten pear or aplles or other foods. ALso they must rinse out any yoghurt containter or similar before throwing them into recycling, of which my child is too lazy to do, so he brings them home, resulting is disgusting lunch bags. My oldest child is only in grade 1! I'm thinking of switching to paper bags, at least they are biodegradable! What is the point of reusable lunch bags if you have to buy new ones each year and toss the old ones int he trash. any other solutions out there?

Almost all of the little container I have for lunches are gone by now as well, and i seem to have a serious shortage of spoons. How can they loose so much! Is it just my child?

[HollyBearsMom]

There are environmentally friendly paper bags out there but they are expensive. If $$ isn't an issue then use 'em and don't worry. 

However why are you machine washing the reusable bags? I have the fabric insulated ones too and I only wash them about once a month or so (unless there is a spill) and when I do I hand wash and hang dry. However I do rise them out each night so they stay pretty clean. They are 2+ years old and going strong!

[JesKace]

If you're going to go with the paper bag kind of lunch bag why not just go with a cloth sack?  Then you could throw them in the washer and not worry about them getting ruined.  DD has to have a separate bag for her snack and lunch so I made her a cloth snack bag.  It's pretty much just a rectangular shaped bag that has velcro to close the top.  I used 2 pieces of fabric (one as an outside and one as a liner) since the fabric wasn't really that thick.  I also put handles on it so she can carry it.  It's not water proof or anything, but it was super easy to make and once you get the idea of what you're making you could make a few.  I tried to look around for one that I could buy, but figured I could make it myself a whole lot cheaper.  I wasn't worried about it being insulated since they eat snack so early and I send in things that don't need to stay cold.  If you're considering switching to a paper bag I'm assuming having an insulated bag isn't such a big deal as is being able to clean the bag and not have it get ruined.  I'd be worried about the paper bags falling apart if your child is bringing home yogurt containers that aren't cleaned out.

[jimblejamble]

http://www.laptoplunches.com/ What about one of these?

[Rani]

laptoplunches didn't hold up for us sad to say. The containers leaked and it didn't hold much. So we have a resuseble lunch bag we got at Target that is washable and  holding up well

[lishoprah]

We use stainless steel tiffins, but I agree with the cloth bag if you want to machine wash it.  I think Hip Mt Mama has nice cotton lunch bags.  They might have the tiffins too...

[HollyBearsMom]

Originally Posted by JessicaRenee 

http://www.laptoplunches.com/ What about one of these?

These were really good when my son was young but now that he is 9 they are way too small for his lunch and snacks.  I did find that they warped after about 6-9 months but with warm water I could re-mold them. However if the OP's kids are losing their containers on a regular basis it could get pretty $$ to keep replacing the LTL ones.