Monday 13 April 2015

{give away and review} why we *love* reusable sandwich and snack bags




One of my childhood memories is of my amazing, resourceful mother washing out and pegging up plastic bread bags over the kitchen window sill, to reuse for wrapping sandwiches, cut fruit and so forth. Yes, she was into reusing and repurposing way before it was on trend! ;)

While I may not (yet!) take my environmental and thrifty savvy to quite that level, clearly it influenced me because it has always chaffed me to use lots of plastic bags. Even when my dear kids and their never ending (NEVER.ENDING!!) snack requirements appeared on the scene, I always cringed about using 'disposable' ziplock type bags. It just seemed so wasteful! Just a single use then toss. It didn't seem right. Containers were the easy alternative of course, but they were usually so bulky, they didn't always suit. A couple of years ago I started seeing reusable snack bags coming onto the market and my little heart knew it had met its match! Ahhh, the answer to my predicament! I bought a couple to try out - a sandwich and a snack sized bag, and it was indeed looooove :)


Here's a little list of why our family now loves using reusable bags...


  • Good for the environment, less waste and landfill. 
  • Over time, you save $$$!
  • They are easy to empty/dust out, and if they get mucky, most are dishwasher/washing machine friendly too.
  • Unlike bulky containers, they don't take up as much space in your bag - and once they are empty, they take almost no space!
  • They are a great way to wrap individual foods within lunchboxes too, so you can avoid using cling wrap.
  • A better alternative to your food touching chemical-leeching cling wrap and plastic bags.
  • Oh yeah - they look so cute too :)



A few of the colourful, fresh and modern designs of the Lunchskins range. Aren't they gorgeous!? And so well made too.



These days I usually have a couple of reusable snack bags floating around in my hand bag and nappy/diaper bag, filled with emergency crackers, sultanas, etc. Every time someone else spots us using them, they comment on what a great idea they are - and yes, they really are! Good for the kids - and for adults too of course. Yes, Mama needs her own little snack bag at times...keeps me from getting 'hAngry' ;) Hubby takes some of his work snacks in them too!



A staple 'emergency handbag snack kit' - sultanas, coconut chips and sunflower seeds. 
Perfect for little hands...



A couple of common questions friends ask about reusable lunchbags are...

1) How well does it 'seal' in the food? Does a sandwich stay fresh? Unlike some other brands, Lunchskins has a really strong velcro strip that goes all the way across the opening. If you make a sandwich in the morning, it will keep nice and fresh for the day, but I wouldn't say longer than that. It's not an airtight seal like a ziplock, but it does close up very well. 

2) Does it leak? Again, it's not completely 100% sealed in like a ziplock bag, but the canvas is sturdy and thick. For something fairly juicy like an orange, rockmelon etc it will contain it all just fine. I filled mine with water as an experiment, and it dripped a bit from the corners where the stitching is and would also from the flap at the top. Of course, I don't think anyone is expecting to use them to hold pure water, haha... 



The perfect little sandwich bag. Please note this bread is a small loaf (Burgen bread). Regular size bread fits perfectly too.
This is Eli's serious orange face, haha :)






I started off my 'reusable bag journey' (ha!) with a different brand, which I liked but was open to trying another type. Earlier this year, a friend and I came across these adorable and really well made bags by Lunchskins in one of our favourite online kids stores, Finlee and Me. We bought a couple each to try, and have both been SO happy with their quality, their cuteness,and the very strong velcro which goes along the whole opening flap (the other brand I used only had a small tab of velcro, so it didn't seal up so well). The Lunchskins brand of reusable bags are also BPA and phthalate free and dishwasher safe. They are also hand sewn using certified food-safe fabric. 


The Good Stuff....

Are you getting on board the reusable bag train? Keen to try them out? Or already a fan and want to increase your stash? Well, this could be your lucky day! I am so pleased to partner with Finlee and Me, who have generously offered to give away a sandwich/snack bag set to THREE lucky winners!!

Finlee and Me are a fantastic Australian online kids shop, specialising in lovely and unique goodies for kids and babies - and some things for Mums too! When they offered to send me an item for review, I was keen to add to my reusable bag stash, as with five family members the few I have are always in use! Plus, I couldn't wait to shout my love for these enviro-friendly goodies to the rooftops. You know me, I love to share with you guys about what I'm loving! Of course, I also wanted to share the love around with a giveaway :)


So, there are three chances to win! Just comment below to have one of three chances to win your very own Lunchskins snack and sandwich bag set (valued at $24.95 plus postage). In the mean time, check out the gorgeous full range here.... and be sure to browse around all of Finlee and Me's lovely other goodies too. So many nice things!



PS Use the Rafflecopter app, then enter your competition entry comment (What would you store in your Lunchskins reusable bag?) into the blog comment box at the bottom of the page xx


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions:
Giveaway is for 3 Lunchskins sets (one sandwich bag, one snack bag). One set each for three winners, and including delivery within Australia
Australian Entries only. 
Must leave a name and email address if using an "anonymous" profile that is not linked to a way to contact you if you've won.
Winner will be deemed most creative/interesting response as chosen by me. This is a game of skill, not chance.
Entries close Sunday night, 19th April, 11.59pm 2015. 
Judges decision is final. Winner must respond within 48 hours or prize will be awarded to the runner up. Good luck!!!




**These items were provided for review by Finlee and Me. All opinions are 100% my own... as mentioned, I bought a set of these myself earlier in the year, we are big fans already!**


26 comments:

  1. These look fab! Our school strongly encourage Nude Food and even audits lunchboxes from time to time. I like the look of these as they wouldn't be as bulky as some reusable plastic containers. Beautiful photos as always!

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  2. Cute patterns!! I've been wanting to try these out!!

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  3. I've been one of those mums thinking 'what a great idea' whenever I see someone pull these out of their bag. So far we've been lugging a lot of reusable plastic containers with us wherever we go, so this looks like a much smarter idea. But to answer your question, we would use them for all sorts of things! Turkey & cranberry sandwiches, peanut butter rice cakes, grapes, strawberries, kiwifruit, cherries...... Nom nom nom!

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  4. Veggies! I'm blessed to have a little one who loves cucumber, carrot, tomatoes, celery and the like. I'd love to store all these yummies in one of these bags.

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  5. I love these reusable bags. We use them for everything from popcorn to veggies to sandwiches.

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  6. These are perfect for kinder! I'd store sandwiches, carrot and celery, crackers and fruit pieces. The list is endless really. Thanks for the chance. :)

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  7. Nina Piotrowicz14 April 2015 at 10:40

    I would use them for Austin's favourite food - vegemite sandwiches, grapes, blueberries, strawberries, cheese, dates, dried apple & tiny teddy biscuits

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  8. Being a stay at home mum with a little baby ,i hardly get time to cook lunch - so I would pack a nice healthy sandwich for myself for lunch ( while packing lunchbox for my 6 year old ).

    For snack tome i would love to pack some healthy fruits for me - grapes,strawberries,blueberries ,coconut slices etc.

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  9. Veggies and dry snacks! This is such a cool idea. The school Fe'ao attends encourages minimizing lunchbox waste, so I know other parents there will think they're a great idea too.

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  10. My 4yo son is very environmentally friendly, he wants to compost everything, he wont take his food to kinder in glad wrap or anything like that as its not good for the world! :) We use containers at the moment but these would be perfect for kinder lunches, my only issue will be that my hubby and daughter will want them too! :) We would use it for sandwiches and perhaps fruit or some snacks.

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    Replies
    1. Congrats Chantel, you are one of our lucky winners!!! :) Hope your very enviro-friendly son enjoys them :) Loved the story about him!

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  11. Fruit, toast, sandwiches, fruit bars

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  12. So cute. Love a personal referral. Hhhmm sultanas, fruit, crackers and corn chips!

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  13. I am a big fan of reuseable snack wrappers like these. I didn't know Finlee and Me sold them, and they are such great patterns :-) Our school doesn't allow throw away wrappers which I think is brilliant, it makes us buy better - like in bulk and divy it up in wrappers for lunches. Much better than individual serves in terms of financial cost and environmental cost.

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  14. Wow these r so cool, now I'm obsessed, I want a heap.... Fingers crossed u can start off my collection! Annie xxx

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  15. Just what I need to encourage healthy eating with my toddler. It's too easy to just grab a prepackaged bag of biscuits or muesli bars. With two little ones my nappy bag is already full to the brim so reducing the space needed for food packaging is great.

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  16. Dried fruits and nuts are my favourite go to snack when out, and taking one of these would be so much less bulky than a regular container!

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  17. I've wanted to get some reusable lunch bags for a while now but the ones i saw just didn't seem to seal well enough...but I guess if you're sealing water in there than that's a pretty good testimony lol...
    Now what would I seal in there??? Maybe I would squirrel away some treats for me, hidden behind those cute designs while the kids had vege sticks lol :D

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  18. Lunchskins are great and look cool too,
    Put your snacks in it to munch and chew.

    They save you time and also money,
    Pack yourself a sandwich filled with honey!

    The world will thank you with no landfill,
    Replace my containers? I probably will!

    To win one pack, I’d be over the moon,
    I’ll be using them along with a fork and spoon!

    Thanks to Finley and Me and to Kate,
    Reusable snack packs have never looked so great!

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    Replies
    1. Congrats, Sally, you are one of our winners!!! Well done - love the poem, gave me a real chuckle :)

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  19. Cucumber and carrot sticks, breadsticks, pretzels, sultanas....all of our snacks would be a hit in these!

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  20. I would use them for 'munch', the period between morning tea and lunch when they are "hungree mummy". I would also use them for 'dafters', the period between afternoon tea and dinner when the act like they have not eaten for 3 days ; )

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  21. These look wonderful! Lunch boxes always take up so much space, these little lunch bags would be so good for lunch on the go, when you don't want to carry much.

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i love to hear your thoughts, thanks for leaving your comments! xx