What lunch box/bag does your teen boy carry to school?

[Arkansan]

My DS (incoming 8th grader) carries the insulated box from Costco that a PP showed earlier. The previous one lasted 2 years. I'll buy him a new one this year. He likes it because it expands. I believe he will need two sandwiches this year plus the other snacks, fruit, and dessert. And yet he still weighs under 100#! When I die, I want to come back as a teen-aged boy just so I can eat and eat and eat and never gain weight!

My teen DDs (both in HS) carry cuter Vera Bradley insulated lunch bags. There is a big environmental push at the HS. I see almost every kid of both genders carrying reusable water bottles and one of my DD's friends was very pleased when we switched to reusable sandwich boxes from plastic sandwich bags this year.

 

[rszdtrvl]

Thanks all. It sounds like it varies. I do know a couple kids who go to their school and will ask.

It is a small charter school with only 100 per grade level. Until now we have homeschooled.

Here is what I am considering getting this in solid black.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IDL3YCO...lid=2PEI3E41N5Y8G&coliid=I1KXQ2TFPVLUO1&psc=1

I like the idea of freezing the entire bag and not needing an extra ice pack.

DS carried one similar to that (same company) only his was a blue plaid. It lasted his entire junior and senior year of high school.

This (but plaid) is the style he had :
http://www.amazon.com/PackIt-Freeza...52&sr=1-9&keywords=packit+freezable+lunch+bag

 

[zoemurr]

I didn't realize that people still use brown paper bags. They seem so wasteful.

Yes, I would never allow this either, or disposable water bottles. DD16/DS14 We just don't buy them. DD has a Vera Bradley lunch bag, and DS has a black "lunch bag" type but both my kids usually buy. I have seen both boys and girls with reusable bags. (Just asked DS what his friends use to carry their lunch and he pointed to his and said, "like that.. what else would they use?" Most of the boys use the Gatorade bottles for water.

 

[mom2rtk]

I didn't realize that people still use brown paper bags. They seem so wasteful.

I didn't realize high school students carried lunch boxes.

But then the free/reduced lunch percentage in our district is very high, so I guess it's not an issue for much of the population at our schools.

 

[laprostitch]

My son is 16 and really loves the Coleman bag (solid blue) that has the hard inner liner. It's got lots of room, and there is a zippered pocket on the inside so that you can put an ice pack without smashing everything.

 

[gwynne]

I didn't realize high school students carried lunch boxes.

I was surprised to hear so many high school students carried lunch boxes, too. Just like reusable grocery totes, reusable lunch boxes can really carry germs. I guess if one is very careful about regular cleaning, it's not such a big deal.

 

[Tiffylv]

.

 

[zoemurr]

I was surprised to hear so many high school students carried lunch boxes, too. Just like reusable grocery totes, reusable lunch boxes can really carry germs. I guess if one is very careful about regular cleaning, it's not such a big deal.

They are not eating out of the bag... they are eating out of smaller containers that go through the dishwasher after each use. The bag never touches any food, and yes, does get cleaned when/if necessary.

My daughter will be a senior and she said she's never seen anyone carry a brown paper bag. On occasion they will just have baggies in their backpack though. They all put an icee in too, and I don't think that would work in a paper bag.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I always had a brown paper bag. New bag every Monday (reuse it Tues-Fri). My typical HS lunch was 3 sandwiches, 2 cartons of milk, and a Little Debbie snack cake. I weighed 132 when I graduated. Oh for that metabolism back!!!!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

My son refused to bring his lunch in High School. He said if he didn't like what they were serving he would eat when he got home.

My DD15 was a freshman and chose to use an Anime lunch bag that she really likes - When she became a vegetarian late last year, she found the school didn't have too many choices she liked so she packs her own lunch. She has met some new school aquaintances (she doesn't call them friends because she only socializes with them at lunch. LOL) because of that lunch bag.

 

[dimimi]

I teach at a high school and rarely see someone carry a lunch box. A lot of the kids buy their lunch and many carry a lunch bag. My own son carries a lunch bag. He typically brings the bag home because he just puts it in his backpack. If my son carries something that must be kept cold we use little ziplock bags with frozen water it in.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Our lunch program would seriously frown on paper bags. They have gone the way of the dodo bird here along with grocery bags that are paper or plastic. Schools promote litterless lunches. We used them back in the 80s but they went out of vogue in the 1990s.

My kids are in middle school but I expect when they enter high school it will be all about buying lunch in the cafeteria.

 

[aprilgail]

Our lunch program would seriously frown on paper bags. They have gone the way of the dodo bird here along with grocery bags that are paper or plastic. Schools promote litterless lunches. We used them back in the 80s but they went out of vogue in the 1990s.

My kids are in middle school but I expect when they enter high school it will be all about buying lunch in the cafeteria.

Unless that lunch program was the one paying for and packing my kids lunch I would give a rats behind what they frowned on or not. My daughter takes either a brown paper bag or one of the plastic bags from the food store if we run out of paper bags. A bottle of Poland spring water, random things in ziplock bags, a package of cookies and at the end of lunch all of it is empty and goes in the trash at the school. She would never ever buy lunch at school, the food is worse then when I went as a kid. A few times a week they get food dropped off, the other day she said so many kids had pizza delivered that they had to stack all the empty boxes by the door for the custodians because they couldn't fit them all in the trash containers.

 

[mombrontrent]

Unless that lunch program was the one paying for and packing my kids lunch I would give a rats behind what they frowned on or not. My daughter takes either a brown paper bag or one of the plastic bags from the food store if we run out of paper bags. A bottle of Poland spring water, random things in ziplock bags, a package of cookies and at the end of lunch all of it is empty and goes in the trash at the school. She would never ever buy lunch at school, the food is worse then when I went as a kid. A few times a week they get food dropped off, the other day she said so many kids had pizza delivered that they had to stack all the empty boxes by the door for the custodians because they couldn't fit them all in the trash containers.

Seems so very wasteful. My daughters ages 12 and 8 take a reusable bag and use little tupperware containers instead of ziploc bags, everybody does. Litters lunches are STRONGLY encouraged here. As for the pizza boxes not fitting in the trash, they should be recycled anyways. I know the schools here recycle.

 

[aprilgail]

Seems so very wasteful. My daughters ages 12 and 8 take a reusable bag and use little tupperware containers instead of ziploc bags, everybody does. Litters lunches are STRONGLY encouraged here. As for the pizza boxes not fitting in the trash, they should be recycled anyways. I know the schools here recycle.

They don't have recycling containers in the lunchroom. One of the clubs puts a can in there for deposit bottles and cans and they use that money for their club but that is it.

 

[mombrontrent]

They don't have recycling containers in the lunchroom. One of the clubs puts a can in there for deposit bottles and cans and they use that money for their club but that is it.

That is to bad. Schools seem like a great place for kids to learn about the importance of recycling.

 

[cabanafrau]

I let the high schooler sort it out for themselves and let me know if they need to go shopping for something.

 

[aprilgail]

That is to bad. Schools seem like a great place for kids to learn about the importance of recycling.

Recycling isn't really that big of a thing around here- the town did give out recycling cans for bottles and cans and there is a day for you to put out newspapers but on my block out of 24 houses maybe 6 put out recycling. We recycle newspapers each week and we do recycle some cans and bottles but not all like the newspapers. Old computers and TV's go out the same time you put out cans and bottles.

 

[mombrontrent]

Recycling isn't really that big of a thing around here- the town did give out recycling cans for bottles and cans and there is a day for you to put out newspapers but on my block out of 24 houses maybe 6 put out recycling. We recycle newspapers each week and we do recycle some cans and bottles but not all like the newspapers. Old computers and TV's go out the same time you put out cans and bottles.

Interesting. Here everyone recycles, like 99-100% of houses, schools, businesses etc. Paper, glass, cans, plastics, organic waste, electronic waste, etc. I would say 75% of stuff is recycled and 25% is put out in the trash. I live in Ontario, Canada.

 

[Hrhpd]

Just trying to get ideas of what is acceptable to carry to high school these days.

Recyclable/compostable paper bag http://letsgogreen.biz/pages/paper/lunchbags.html . Everything completely disposable/recyclable (not so much disposable) so there was no need to return to the locker before classes. Most everything goes into the recycle bins.

All different kinds of lunch totes before high school, very uncool for the guys to carry a lunch tote in high school. The girls seemed to have a trend of bringing cute Disney or other cartoon lunchboxes.

School district and schools have their own garden plots where all veggies/salads are grown organically, so the unlimited salad bar was also a quick and popular choice.

Extreme crunchy community so extreme recycling habits. Classrooms all had several recycling bins and composting bins. At home, we paid by pound for trash removal, recycling was free.