We've been taking a look at non-plastic food storage solutions lately, particularly those geared towards packing lunches. Lunchbots, a small startup that sells two styles of colorful stainless steel containers, is one of the companies we've been checking out, as they are part of a trend we're seeing towards the use of stainless steel in food-contact items. SnackTaxis, formerly known as Happy Sacks, are another option we've been using and enjoying for a while now.

Here's a quick demo of the Lunchbots containers:


Lunchbots stainless steel containers (6.5"x4.5") are ideal for sandwiches and dry snacks, depending on which one you've picked up. The blue container is a nice fit for sandwiches, accommodating both square and larger rectangular bread slices; it pops open and shut just as you'd expect if you've handled a tin of butter cookies or other such packaging before. The orange container has a dividing weld to hold two portions of snacks. This puts a very slight strain on the oval shape of the exterior wall, which may make the lid a slightly tighter fit. Jenni, in fact, has a bit of trouble closing either container, and I did at times but not consistently (such as, when making the demo above).


This interior wall has slight gaps on either side, and weld marks where it attaches to the base of the container. Its gaps and seams are a reminder that neither of these containers should be used for wet foods - containers constructed in this way are not guaranteed to be leakproof, and probably aren't.

At $15 apiece (from Lunchbots.com or Amazon.com) these are an investment, but they're well-made and if you carry more fresh lunches than leftovers, you should be happy - just be prepared to supplement when you want something wetter (hummus is a common side portion in the lunches we prepare). Shipping through either Amazon or Lunchbots is only $5.

SnackTaxis are cloth sacks serged in envelope-style shapes for snacks (6"x4.5") and sandwiches (7.5" x 6"). They are sewn in two layers - an exterior made of 100% cotton fabric and an interior made of nylon with a polyurethane coating that should be free of all the stuff you want to avoid - phthalates, BPA, etc - although they haven't been tested for all these, as polyurethane and nylon both appear unlikely to contain them. The sacks at all sizes are surprisingly roomy, and we like that the "pocket" extends high up above the half-fold you'd expect, meaning this sack can be "closed" in a much "higher-waisted" shape than appears in the photo here. Also memorable is that these well-constructed sacks come in the kind of variety of fabric options you can only get from a small shop (they're made in what used to be Erin Kelly-Dill's living room) - at the moment they have 27 different patterns on their Snack Sacks and 32 different ones for their Sandwich Sacks.

Some "greening" products or practices force us to remap neural pathways that cringe at scrimping (shorter showers) or spending (expensive organics), but the double-layered fabric and interior coating give these bags both a professional-grade quality and heft that convey a general sense of abundance, which is a nice subliminal message to blend in with sustainability and a $9-and-under price tag. Their creators respect the materials and process by which they're fashioned, and when you invest in quality, experiencing that quality on a daily basis is a gift. Almost literally, because when you pull a sandwich out of a SnackTaxi, you sort of feel like you're opening a furoshiki-wrapped present to yourself. I'm sure that novelty will wear off someday, but we don't use these all the time, so it hasn't yet. As with Lunchbots, SnackTaxis are designed for foods on the dry end of the spectrum.

As for their durability, we've had ours for several months now, and the serged seam has only just begun to unravel the slightest bit, which will be an easy fix. As with any cloth item, handwashing will extend their life, but SnackTaxis are easily machine-washable and can go in the dryer too. That's what we've been doing, and they've held up well. Just don't let them get all rumply, as their polyurethane coating tends to make them stay rumpled. Then again, we leave clean laundry piled in baskets (or out of them!) for days at a time before we manage to get them put away, so rumply SnackTaxis may just be a personal problem.

You can purchase SnackTaxis from the company's website. For the incurably curious, SnackTaxis changed their name because it turned out another company had trademarked Happy Sacks. To be honest, SnackTaxis are probably better off without the brand association.

For messy, more complex lunches, we still like the Laptop Lunches system, but have another brand we're smitten by at the moment (also involving plastic) that we'll review here in depth soon. TTP's Mika also recently wrote a great roundup of reusable lunch bags and systems.

It's hard to declare a "winner" in this comparison, but US-made SnackTaxis meet the same needs as Lunchbots, at about two thirds the cost, and we could debate the relative sustainability of each product till the cows come home. (Whoops, they're here! Guess that cuts off that fascinating debate.) We also think the soft sacks are a bit friendlier to the end user - lighter weight, easier to carry, and easier to manipulate. But we're sure the shiny and well-designed Lunchbots have ideal owners as well. Stainless steel fetishists, you know who you are.

We'll be adding both products to the ZRecs Guide to Safer Children's Products, and giving SnackTaxis a Top Pick rating.