Green Office & Reusable Snack Bags

Not just eco friendly products but an eco friendly office as well!

In an effort to have little waste, here are some of the things we are doing. We welcome comments and ideas as we are trying hard to have the best eco friendly workshop as possible.

Shipping:

• We don't use any packaging materials inside the mailing envelopes - unless shipping Cinch Sacks - in which case we use our scrap fabric to pad toggles.
• We use 100% recycled shipping labels.
• Our packing slips are printed on both sides for less paper waste & we use 100% recycled paper & recycled ink cartridges.
• Our business cards and care tags are made with 100% recycled paper & using soy inks. 
• The care instructions are printed on business size cards made with 100% recycled paper for little waste.  For retailers the cards are attached with cotton twine.
• For retail orders we reuse boxes that have plenty of life left in them.
• Instead of sending a brochure regarding organic cotton, we link to it here.

Recycling:

• We recycle paper, cardboard and yes even material!
• Having found extra fabric was left over after cutting out our products, I designed the tissue pouches. Not only does it reduce the material waste, it reduces the waste from all those small tissue packages. Some of our pouches are pieced together to help minimize waste.
• Any left over fabric is recycled thru Bay Area Recycling for Charities a local recycling company.
• We even got our storage shelves from Odom Reusable Building Materials - another local company.
• We take back & recycle any worn out ELG products that would normally be tossed.

Around the Workshop:

• We use natural light & CFL lighting.
• There are no paper plates, cups or napkins - we use regular dishes and cloth napkins.
• Our cleaning supplies consist of baking soda, peroxide & natural dish soap.
• Our 100% organic cotton fabric is pre-washed in natural laundry soap with no dyes or perfumes and we don't use a dryer sheet. Why we pre-wash is to pre-shrink so you don't end up with a bag that's puckered (where the cotton is smaller than the nylon). ELG will look just as great after washing as before.
• The storage containers that we use are enamelware boxes which we have found in resale & antique shops.
• All shelving, cupboards & sewing machine tables are repurposed from a reusable building store. Other tables are ones we bought 20 some years ago & hand me downs.
• We order our supplies in large quantities to reduce the shipping footprint.
• We have an antique Paper Welder - this replaces a stapler so there are no staples used.

About our Fabric:

We use ONLY 100% certified organic cotton, which is better for the earth and us versus conventionally grown cotton. Our cotton is also certified to GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standards) and is also Fair Trade and CPSIA (Consumer Products Safety Commission Improvement Act) compliant. The interior is lined with polyurethane coated nylon.

By not using toxic chemicals to grow organic cotton means fewer poisons contaminating the soil, air, food supply, water AND the farmers & their families.

Our products have been CPSIA tested and is compliant to be in contact with food.

All materials are lead, phthalates & BPA free.

Reducing Household Waste

Finding new ways to reduce waste both at the office and at home is an ongoing process.  At Eco Lunch Gear we strive to be kind to the environment no matter where we are.  Here are a few ideas for reducing houshold waste.  If you have others please share them with us.

RECYCLE   REDUCE   REUSE   RETHINK