I'm a little brain dead with all the back to school stuff -- 3 kids starting various levels of school/preschool this week, and I'm starting back too, after an all-too-short vacation. Remind me not to teach double summer school again. (I'm serious. Remind me!)
This year we've decided to pack the kids' lunches. There are a variety of reasons.
1. I think that the school lunch is kind of pricey, considering what it is. (Today's lunch was hot dog with chili; tomorrow, a chicken burger.) It's not really food that I want to encourage my kids to eat, and it costs $2.10 per kid, per day -- so a grand total of $21/week for my two school-age kids.
2. I have been to lunch, and the kids throw away a lot of food. I think that's wrong. I would rather send them with food that I know they'll eat.
3. Everything in the school lunch is disposable, including the tray.
4. The kids use a spork to eat their school lunch. I'm not sure why the district can't just give the kids a fork or a spoon. Using a spork seems to just encourage silverware problems -- I think kids need to learn how to use forks. Of course, the stupid spork is packaged in plastic with a napkin. So much waste.
But, there are some common problems with sending lunch from home.
1. Keeping things the right temperature.
2. Having the right container.
3. Many people still send lots of disposable stuff.
4. Keeping cost down -- you might end up spending MORE on a lunch from home.
As far as temperature is concerned, I bought a nifty thermal container from Land's End (2 for around $15), and it is great for sending pasta or macaroni and cheese or whatever your kid likes. I also have some plastic containers with screw on lids to send stuff like sliced fruit, applesauce, etc. Currently, my kids are going with water bottles that I fill with ice in the morning (and a little water), so they have cool water during the day. But, the pressure has been on to buy the chocolate milk at school. I am fine with chocolate milk, but I think school milk is pretty gross and I don't want to pay .65 for it (high, right?) I'd rather buy organic chocolate milk and freeze 1/2 of it in some sort of a container and then fill the other 1/2 with milk so it will still be cool at lunch time. I really don't want to buy a juice box because it just creates too much trash.
With all these containers, the lunch box can get pretty full (and my kids have big lunch boxes). We have a couple of wrap-a-mats which we can wrap around pretzels, dried fruit, or whatever. They are basically pieces of cloth lined with plastic that velcro together. You can check them out at reusablebags.com. We have been pretty happy with ours, and they get frequent (positive) comments, but the price has gone WAY up recently (more than double), so I'm not sure that I would buy them again.
Showing posts with label milk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label milk. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
How Expensive are Kids? -- Part III
Lately the price of food has been getting me down. It seems that every time that I go to the grocery store, the bill is higher. Meanwhile, we are eating much less meat than we used to, rarely buy canned beans, make our own bread and soy milk... What is going on?
The higher price of food is all over the news. Milk is higher, which has made all milk products more expensive. The price of wheat is higher, which has made pizza places and bakeries raise their prices. I have not really noticed a higher price on flour, but the high price of milk really hurts. I have 3 young children, and the youngest can really put away some milk. We decided to switch to organic milk, and the price of organic milk (not the happy stuff in glass bottles, mind you, but just regular factory organic milk) is from 4.99 to 5.49 a gallon, depending on where I buy it. That's at LEAST 40 dollars a month in milk. Then there's cheese. About $5 a pound, and lots more if I buy organic.
This week's Newsweek has an article about people changing back from organic because of the rising cost of food. There are certain things that I am consistent about with organic -- I like the organic milk, but can't bring myself to pay for the cheese. I buy organic yogurt (2.99 for a big container) but not ice cream (don't buy much of that because I would just eat it all). I can't afford organic green peppers, so I usually just leave them out. I'm waiting for them to grow in my garden. I only buy grass-fed beef, so I buy really small quantities. Depending on what I'm making, sometimes I mix it 1/2 and 1/2 with veggie crumbles.
I'd like to buy more organic produce, but I just can't afford it. The grocery bill keeps going up... not just because of higher prices, but because my children eat more as they grow. So I pick and choose. I experimented with CSA, but it just wasn't worth it for me. It cost $30 a week for vegetables that for the most part were not things that my family would normally eat, and that my kids generally didn't touch. The last week I had to toss a few things because they rotted before we could eat them. We NEVER throw away food, so that was the breaking point for me.
My kids eat lots of fruit, so I spend a good deal of money on that. Sometimes organic -- usually not. Who am I kidding? I can't spend $5 on a pound of strawberries that will be gone in 5 minutes. At the same time, I know that conventional berries are sprayed with a lot of pesticides, so I try to emphasize fruits with peels and/or fruits that are not on the "dirty dozen" list. So we eat lots of bananas, oranges, grapefruits, organic apples and mangoes. My kids also LOVE canned peaches and pineapple, which are quite affordable, but lately I've been wondering if I'm slowly poisoning them with the plastic can lining.
What about you? Have you noticed higher prices? Have they changed the decisions that you make at the grocery store?
The higher price of food is all over the news. Milk is higher, which has made all milk products more expensive. The price of wheat is higher, which has made pizza places and bakeries raise their prices. I have not really noticed a higher price on flour, but the high price of milk really hurts. I have 3 young children, and the youngest can really put away some milk. We decided to switch to organic milk, and the price of organic milk (not the happy stuff in glass bottles, mind you, but just regular factory organic milk) is from 4.99 to 5.49 a gallon, depending on where I buy it. That's at LEAST 40 dollars a month in milk. Then there's cheese. About $5 a pound, and lots more if I buy organic.
This week's Newsweek has an article about people changing back from organic because of the rising cost of food. There are certain things that I am consistent about with organic -- I like the organic milk, but can't bring myself to pay for the cheese. I buy organic yogurt (2.99 for a big container) but not ice cream (don't buy much of that because I would just eat it all). I can't afford organic green peppers, so I usually just leave them out. I'm waiting for them to grow in my garden. I only buy grass-fed beef, so I buy really small quantities. Depending on what I'm making, sometimes I mix it 1/2 and 1/2 with veggie crumbles.
I'd like to buy more organic produce, but I just can't afford it. The grocery bill keeps going up... not just because of higher prices, but because my children eat more as they grow. So I pick and choose. I experimented with CSA, but it just wasn't worth it for me. It cost $30 a week for vegetables that for the most part were not things that my family would normally eat, and that my kids generally didn't touch. The last week I had to toss a few things because they rotted before we could eat them. We NEVER throw away food, so that was the breaking point for me.
My kids eat lots of fruit, so I spend a good deal of money on that. Sometimes organic -- usually not. Who am I kidding? I can't spend $5 on a pound of strawberries that will be gone in 5 minutes. At the same time, I know that conventional berries are sprayed with a lot of pesticides, so I try to emphasize fruits with peels and/or fruits that are not on the "dirty dozen" list. So we eat lots of bananas, oranges, grapefruits, organic apples and mangoes. My kids also LOVE canned peaches and pineapple, which are quite affordable, but lately I've been wondering if I'm slowly poisoning them with the plastic can lining.
What about you? Have you noticed higher prices? Have they changed the decisions that you make at the grocery store?
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Changes So Far
I really like it when other bloggers list changes that they have made (like No Impact Man recently did), so I thought I'd make my own list.
So far, we:
1. Started recycling.
2. Use only cloth napkins.
3. Use rags instead of paper towels.
4. Switched to cloth diapers & wipes for baby. **
5. Make our own bread.
6. Stopped using artificial sweetener.
7. Traded in one car for a scooter.
8. Ride bike/scoot instead of drive as much as possible.
9. Went camping over spring break instead of road trip.
10. Print on both sides of paper.
11. Use weird-shaped paper and envelopes for grocery lists and notes.
12. Print all work documents on both sides.
13. Stopped buying laundry detergent -- make our own.
14. Stopped buying liquid body soap -- use bar soap.
15. Bring own bags to grocery store.
16. Bring own bags and containers for bulk.
17. Bring own plates to picnics, etc.
18. Got rid of non-stick pans -- use stainless steel or cast iron. **
19. Turn off lights when not in use.
20. Conserve water in bath tub -- shared baths for kids.
21. Wash clothes in cold water.
22. Hang clothes dry.
23. Bring cup to coffee shop.
24. Use non-disposable coffee filter.
25. Buy fair-trade coffee.
26. Buy organic milk. **
27. Buy as much as possible used.
28. Stopped buying greeting cards -- homemade instead.
29. Reuse wrapping paper and gift bags.
30. Don't buy juice boxes for parties; serve juice with cups.
31. Bring basket of silverware to parties instead of disposable.
32. Bring disposable silverware and extra napkins home so they are not thrown in the trash.
33. Garden
34. Go to the library instead of buying books/videos
35. (I can't believe I forgot this one and had to come back) -- compost with WORMS
That's all I can think of for now. Here are the explanations for the starred items.
**4. Cloth diapers are totally awesome. I feel like a chump that I did not use them for my first two kids. They are inexpensive, they work well, and they have great re-sale value. That said, I could not find a good system for the night. My daughter pees A LOT at night. Even disposable diapers did not hold in the flood. Even a cloth diaper with a disposable doubler. Even two cloth diapers (and then she could barely walk because of all the bulk). The only thing that has worked is pull-ups. So, she wears a pull-up every night. :(
**18. I am afraid to get rid of the last pan because of pancakes. I will try them in cast-iron, but I am afraid they'll stick. Cast-iron is supposed to be naturally non-stick if it is properly seasoned, but that doesn't seem to be working so far.
**26. This took a long time. Organic milk is expensive and my children are milkaholics. BUT we finally made the switch (the increased price of regular milk actually helped.. when the difference was only a dollar, it didn't seem that bad.) I also buy organic yogurt, but I don't buy other organic milk products, which makes me feel hypocritical and bad.
Can you tell I'm suffering from environmental guilt? To be honest, today I'm pretty sick of feeling guilty. Now that I've made the list, I can see that I have made a lot of changes...
Do you suffer from environmental guilt? Do you ever just want to say "to heck with it all!"? What do you tell yourself?
So far, we:
1. Started recycling.
2. Use only cloth napkins.
3. Use rags instead of paper towels.
4. Switched to cloth diapers & wipes for baby. **
5. Make our own bread.
6. Stopped using artificial sweetener.
7. Traded in one car for a scooter.
8. Ride bike/scoot instead of drive as much as possible.
9. Went camping over spring break instead of road trip.
10. Print on both sides of paper.
11. Use weird-shaped paper and envelopes for grocery lists and notes.
12. Print all work documents on both sides.
13. Stopped buying laundry detergent -- make our own.
14. Stopped buying liquid body soap -- use bar soap.
15. Bring own bags to grocery store.
16. Bring own bags and containers for bulk.
17. Bring own plates to picnics, etc.
18. Got rid of non-stick pans -- use stainless steel or cast iron. **
19. Turn off lights when not in use.
20. Conserve water in bath tub -- shared baths for kids.
21. Wash clothes in cold water.
22. Hang clothes dry.
23. Bring cup to coffee shop.
24. Use non-disposable coffee filter.
25. Buy fair-trade coffee.
26. Buy organic milk. **
27. Buy as much as possible used.
28. Stopped buying greeting cards -- homemade instead.
29. Reuse wrapping paper and gift bags.
30. Don't buy juice boxes for parties; serve juice with cups.
31. Bring basket of silverware to parties instead of disposable.
32. Bring disposable silverware and extra napkins home so they are not thrown in the trash.
33. Garden
34. Go to the library instead of buying books/videos
35. (I can't believe I forgot this one and had to come back) -- compost with WORMS
That's all I can think of for now. Here are the explanations for the starred items.
**4. Cloth diapers are totally awesome. I feel like a chump that I did not use them for my first two kids. They are inexpensive, they work well, and they have great re-sale value. That said, I could not find a good system for the night. My daughter pees A LOT at night. Even disposable diapers did not hold in the flood. Even a cloth diaper with a disposable doubler. Even two cloth diapers (and then she could barely walk because of all the bulk). The only thing that has worked is pull-ups. So, she wears a pull-up every night. :(
**18. I am afraid to get rid of the last pan because of pancakes. I will try them in cast-iron, but I am afraid they'll stick. Cast-iron is supposed to be naturally non-stick if it is properly seasoned, but that doesn't seem to be working so far.
**26. This took a long time. Organic milk is expensive and my children are milkaholics. BUT we finally made the switch (the increased price of regular milk actually helped.. when the difference was only a dollar, it didn't seem that bad.) I also buy organic yogurt, but I don't buy other organic milk products, which makes me feel hypocritical and bad.
Can you tell I'm suffering from environmental guilt? To be honest, today I'm pretty sick of feeling guilty. Now that I've made the list, I can see that I have made a lot of changes...
Do you suffer from environmental guilt? Do you ever just want to say "to heck with it all!"? What do you tell yourself?
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