Not long now and we will be back to packing lunches again, for ourselves and our children. More and more schools around the country are urging us to go waste free, which means less disposable containers and food wrapping. My Friendly Lunchbox specialize in reusable lunch box products and one of their most popular products is called the Food Kozy. It is a reusable food wrapper from the US company Kids Konserve whose innovative and sustainable products are changing the way Americans take lunch to school and work. In the run up to back to school we have created a list that compares the Food Kozy with cling film in the hope that more families will ditch the use of cling film and plastic food bags this coming term.

 

Reusable
The Food Kozy is easy to hand wash, dry and Reuse! Any leftover snack or sandwich can also be re-wrapped, to be finished later. After its long lifespan the kozy can be recycled as plastic #4. Cling film is not washable (!) and almost impossible to reuse. Cling film is extremely difficult to recycle, and ends up in landfill where it can take a century or more to degrade.

Mess
There is nothing quite as messy as butter, tuna mix or cream cheese on cling film, and if not thrown away at school it is all over the lunch box at the end of the day.  The Food Kozy can also be used as a placemat when you are out and about, reducing the risk of bacteria coming in contact with your food.

Finance
The Food Kozy can be purchased in a pack of 2 for £7.00 or a pack of 5 for £16.00. This may be setting you back a few more pounds than a roll of cling film or sandwich bags but one also needs to consider the high environmental cost of cling film.  

Style
The Food Kozy is available in pink, brown, green and orange with a whimsy Kids Konserve footprint pattern. Needless to say they win this category by miles. We suggest attaching a stick on name label to avoid it ending up in lost property!

Ease of use
How annoying cling film can be, how many times have you not battled with the packet, getting the wrong size out, ripped, hurting your fingers and once in your hands it is already wrapped around itself – that is another problem with cling film – it is just too clingy. The Food Kozy has easy to use Velcro, easy for little hands to open and close.

I know what you might be thinking now ‘but I use cling film for so many other things – not just to wrap sandwiches or snacks. The Food Kozies are also great for using in the home for wrapping cheese, ham slices and cut up vegetables and fruit. If you are serious about ditching cling film forever then as a compliment to reusable food wrappers use pyrex glas bowls with lids for storing food in the fridge and freezer.