Back to School! And Res.Awesome has a few ideas that can help!

Managing to prepare your whole household for the day with a nutritious and zero-waste lunch before you’ve even had your first cup of coffee can be a true mission. Muesli bars and sandwiches are flying across the kitchen in great haste to make it into those lunch boxes before hitting the road for the day. A successful morning is when you manage to leave the house with every member of your tribe fed, clean and prepped!

The team at Res.Awesome is here to help! We believe it is never too early to start thinking about the role we play in our natural world; whether that be thinking about where our food comes from or taking a hand in reducing, reusing, recycling and rethinking our waste stream responsibly. It is important to lead by example and teach our kids how to prepare their food without the great cost to our planet.

Get creative with reusability in your lunchbox and discover new tools to reduce waste. There are so many awesome products on the market to aid the zero-waste movement. There are also many common household items that can be repurposed and used over & over again.

• Invest in useful, reusable, and non-toxic silicone bags as an alternative to zip-lock plastic bags. Stasher bags use a patented, award-winning design that is eco-friendly, environmentally safe, and long-lasting. Reusable silicone bags are the smart alternative to plastic. For a more budget-friendly alternative check out the Ovela range of silicone bags here. They will pay for themselves in no time as disposable plastic zip lock bags are not only expensive but they deteriorate rather quickly, meaning you are paying much more for an item that has a very short lifespan.

• Beeswax wraps are the perfect alternative to plastic cling film. They are all natural, food safe and can even be made at home. A DIY kit is available for purchase in our online store!

• Glass jars or ice cream containers make perfect additions to your backpack as they are food-safe and reusable. Glass jars are dishwasher safe and budget-friendly food containers.

• Buying in bulk! To keep costs and rubbish output down, do some investigating of your local bulk bin stores. Buying nuts, muesli, pasta, seeds, spices, teas, legumes, honey, oil, vinegar and dried herbs in bulk is super cost-effective! If you live in Dunedin - grab a reusable tote bag and some clean jars and head down to Bin Inn or Taste Nature. These two stockists are perfect for environmentally conscious households and have a really awesome range of products.

• Food prep and Leftovers! Reducing food waste is a whole lot easier when you take a little time to plan your meals. This can be as simple as making a little extra for dinner to be used for lunch the next day - or, making meals in advance to ensure you are never caught hungry when you are out and about. To check out some cool ideas and recipes head here!
  
  Good luck Waste Warriors!
  xx