Plastic-free food: How to make a packed lunch without using plastic
The average worker in the City uses more than 1,000 pieces of single-use plastic per year at work alone, most of which are from takeaway lunches. The best way to cut your plastic use is to bring your own lunch to work, but how do you contain or wrap it without using cling film or tinfoil?
Storage containers and wax wraps are your best bet. Simply pop your sandwich or leftovers in a container to take to work, or use wax wraps to keep products such as cake and cheese fresh. The most common type of wax wrap is beeswax. Bees are the most important pollinator of food crops.
And being in the city is no excuse not to look after our bees, especially considering a third of the food we eat each day relies on pollination. Beehives flourish in a number of city locations including St Ermin’s Hotel at St James’ Park, the Greenwich Mausoleum and the Garrick Club while Future London sponsor BEE Midtown encourages members to keep bees in Midtown.
The actual wraps are usually made from a mixture of cotton, pine resin, jojoba oil and beeswax, to keep your food fresh while also allowing it to breathe. Then, when you have eaten your sandwich, wash the wrap in cold water with a bit of soap, ready to use again the next day. They are biodegradable so you can compost them when worn.
Need to add a little extra ketchup or mayo when you’re at the office? Soon you may be able to use a sauce sachet made from seaweed that is entirely biodegradable. Skipping Rocks Lab’s Ooho pouch is made from 100 per cent seaweed and plants, and takes just a few weeks to biodegrade. You can even eat it! It has previously been used in takeaway trials with the delivery service, Just Eat.
Not sure what to add to complement your plastic-free lunch? Opt for a piece of fruit that comes unwrapped.
And don’t be afraid of having your usual cup of tea to perk you up in the afternoon. Teapigs’ products are now entirely plastic-free — they’ve always had biodegradable mesh teabags (unlike many other teabags which are sealed with plastic, or even made from nylon) but whereas they used to package them in plastic bags to keep them fresh, they now use NatureFlex. The film is based on cellulose, a naturally abundant organic material derived from renewable wood pulp, which breaks down naturally, while still keeping the tea fresh.
And finally, if you really must go out, why not try to eat-in on real crockery and cutlery in a sustainable Midtown restaurant such as The Clerkenwell Kitchen? Or grab a coffee in a compostable takeaway or reusable cup at Prufrock Coffee in Holborn, with some bamboo and cornstarch cutlery to boot? If you need to pick up some shopping before heading home, head towards Midtown’s Planet Organic and refill your storage containers with their unpackaged range of products.
