Back to School – What You Need to Know about Plastic Lunchboxes

2 min read

Though it might seem like your children only finished school yesterday before you can blink the summer holidays will be over and it will be time for them to head back. We all know what that entails - endless pressure to buy new uniforms, as they’ve grown out of the old ones, new shoes to replace those that have been ruined running around the playground and new pens and pencils to replace those that...who even knows!

Going back to school probably also means, time for a new lunchbox. Tempting as it might be to go for the option of another cheap, plastic lunch box - what are the environmental and health impacts of such a choice?

Environmental impact of plastic lunchboxes

The disposable nature of plastic lunch boxes is reflective of the disposable mindset of our society and they cause a huge negative environmental impact. Most plastic lunch boxes are made from polypropylene plastic. While polypropylene is recyclable, when it is heated it creates chemicals with an unknown toxicity - leading to concerns over pollution and health.

This becomes a huge issue when you consider that China produces over 15 billion (that’s billion) plastic lunch boxes each year.

That’s just the recycling; plastics are made from an energy intensive process using petrochemicals that, while harmful for the planet in its own right, also produces a toxic discharge which is incredibly harmful to the environment.

Benefits of Elephant Box

Elephant Box is an eco-friendly lunchbox for a proper lunch.

Health impact of plastic lunchboxes

Not only are plastics incredibly harmful to the environment - they are also damaging to one’s health.

There’s been a lot of talk about the negative impact of BPA plastic on health and its possible links to heart disease and even cancer. Even plastics labelled BPA are not safe as they typically contain something called BPS - a BPA equivalent that may be equally as toxic.

The contamination of BPA is so widespread that the US Centre for disease control found traces of BPA in 98% of the urine samples they took for a 2004 study.

Benefits of Elephant Box

Made of stainless steel an Elephant Box is easy to clean and stays that way its whole life - with no staining or odours.

More food for thought

The average cost of sending a child back to school each year in the UK is nearly £200 of which just under £7 accounts for lunch boxes. Rather than buying a new plastic lunch box each year, why not buy a durable, stainless steel lunchbox that will last years and years?

Benefits of Elephant Box

An Elephant Box is durable and strong - it will last for many, many years.

What to do instead

Choose an eco-friendly, stainless steel lunch box that has been ethically produced and that will last you a lifetime. It is also cleverly designed to stack and therefore is easy to store when not in use.