If you need disposable lunch containers or a disposable lunchbox to send to school or daycare, I found some great options. I’ve included eco-friendly picks and affordable ones for snacks, lunches, and more to give you lots of options to pick from!
Disposable Lunch Box and Container Options
If you can’t use a reusable lunchbox due to health regulations, rules, or just running out of patience with losing reusable ones (ha, real life!), here are some options you can consider that can be tossed right after using. Some of these work better for certain foods, so read through the options to get a sense of how I recommend them (or use your best guess!).
TIP: I usually keep at least one of these options on hand for messier foods or for when we have a field trip or outing where keeping track of a regular lunch box would be a challenge.
Eco-Friendly Paper Bags
I love these thick parchment bags for sandwiches (I use them regularly for adult lunches!) and they’re a decent price at $4.99 for 50 bags. The cute design is perfect for school too!
Compostable Brown Paper Food Bags
200 bags for $13.99 is a nice price for bakery-style bags that can be used for sandwiches, bagels, muffins, and snacks.
Plastic Baggies
Sandwich bags and snack-size bags are a great option for packing little kid lunches. I prefer the ones that seal just to prevent unintentional accidents!
Eco-friendly Plastic Bags
175 eco-friendly bags cost less than $20 and are made from renewable sugarcane. Use for everything from sandwiches and wraps to snacks, fruit, and even pasta salad to be eaten as finger food.
Plastic Wrap and Foil
Use these kitchen staples to wrap sandwiches, wraps, cut up fruit or veggies, bagels, and more.
Disposable Snack Cups with Lids
These little cups (which hilariously are listed as “jello shot cups”) are 5.5 ounces, making them a great size for toddler lunches of pasta, any grains, snacks like cereal or crackers, and so much more. You can get a package of 100 for $9.95
Empty Yogurt Cups (6-8 ounce) or Cottage Cheese Containers and Lids
Clean out empty yogurts or cottage cheeses and reuse the containers for packing lunches. You could put anything into them really. Think pasta salad, a snack lunch, sandwich cubes, cheese and crackers, fruit salad, or even yogurt and cottage cheese with fruit. This is a nice way to use something you already have to limit waste.
TIP: There are a lot more eco-friendly lunch containers that are like the kind you’d get takeout in listed here. They are fairly pricey though, so I’m not listing options since I think they will be out of reach for most families, but they are an option to explore if you want!
