First, a cold-eyed audit of the usual lunchbox. There’s a roll, wrapped in greaseproof paper, a raw carrot, peeled and wrapped in foil, a piece of fresh fruit, an individually wrapped treat – often a Soreen mini malt loaf or a Bear fruit yoyo – and a carton of juice. The lunchbox itself is plastic, and I am attracted to some stainless-steel multi-compartmental containers that would look nice in photographs.
Next, the drink carton. I would love to know how many environmentally minded parents still send their children to school with a drink carton in their lunchbox, as I have done unthinkingly for weeks. It is such an easy fix to switch to a refillable sports bottle. We are saving packaging and money. My son, Gabriel, who is eight, is happy not to be using straws and doesn’t seem to miss the juice.
But the rolls are a problem. We buy them from a supermarket, wrapped in plastic film. Most mass-produced bread now comes in bags that can be recycled, so why not rolls? The loose rolls in the supermarket have gone hard by the time I get there at 5pm, and I know that a hard roll is bound to come home. I bike to my local baker’s. It’s shut.
