Freebie Friday: Reusable Lunch Bags From Sustainable Homestead

By Sarah • on March 5, 2009

I’ve known Cayce Emanuel for several years, and I have learned so much from her about natural living.  She is truly the real deal and puts so much thought into how her life impacts the earth.

Cayce operates an Etsy Store called Sustainable Homestead.  Here’s how she describes herself:

I am first of all a wife and mother. Then I am all about making things with my hands and being a good steward of our environment. In sending my first child off to school and packing her lunch I needed some reusable items that didn’t exist as far as I could tell. So what do I do? Create them! And since decreasing single use paper and plastic items is something that is so important to me I thought…why not share my creations with the world?

I strive to think about my consumerism in this order…reduce, reuse, recycle.

  • First, reduce: reduce single use items, reduce overall consumption, reduce wastefulness.
  • Reuse: reuse any and all items that I can and buy items with this in mind.
  • Then recycle: once I can no longer use an item it gets recycled.

I wanted to pack my daughter’s lunch and son’s snacks but could not find easy opening containers that would fit into a lunchbox. My husband was also having this problem with his lunch. So I did lots of research to find a fabric that was water resistant and appropriate for the baggies. We tested the products out for a summer and I got so many requests for them that I decided to open up shop!

reusable-baggies

Then, we needed small napkins for travel…and why use a huge napkin at home anyway?

napkins

Then came the bulk item bags because I do use those every week in grocery shopping and it felt wasteful to use the plastic ones for less than an hour before putting them in the recycling pile.

bulk-food-bag

Naturally, next came produce bags. This has been more tricky (the right fabric) but I love using the ones I have made.

produce-bags

These reusable  items seemed like a good marriage with my previously word-of-mouth-only custom knits. I was not looking to have my own shop – I was just going to test the waters. It has kept me busy!

Cayce will be offering one Mom Squad reader a Sustainable Homestead lunchbox Package, including:

  • a set of 2 baggies
  • one bulk item bag
  • a set of napkins

Here’s how to enter:

  • Visit Sustainable Homestead, and browse through Cayce’s items.
  • Leave a comment on this post, saying which products interest you.

Leave an extra comment if  you:

  • Are a Mom Squad Subscriber. Click the big orange button for daily updates, or enter your email address for our weekly newsletter.
  • Share this article by email, Blog, or Facebook
  • Join our Facebook Fan Page

Four comments per family please.  The contest will be open through Sunday, March 8.  Winners will be announced on Monday on our Winners Page

BE SURE TO ENTER OUR USBORNE BOOK GIVEAWAY, TOO, THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT!

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Comments

By lessa on March 6th, 2009 at 7:25 am

i really love the sandwich baggies. they come in handy for so many things!

By lessa on March 6th, 2009 at 7:26 am

subscriber

By lessa on March 6th, 2009 at 7:26 am

sharing by email!

By lessa on March 6th, 2009 at 7:26 am

I’m a facebook fan!

By Beth on March 6th, 2009 at 7:47 am

I love the reusable produce bags!

By BethS on March 6th, 2009 at 7:48 am

Subscriber

By Teesa on March 6th, 2009 at 8:07 am

I love the wool shorties!

By Teesa on March 6th, 2009 at 8:07 am

I’m a FB fan too

By Teesa on March 6th, 2009 at 8:10 am

I’m a subscriber

By Melanie on March 6th, 2009 at 8:33 am

I love the reusable lunch baggies… so great!

By Melanie on March 6th, 2009 at 8:35 am

I’m a subscriber

By Melanie on March 6th, 2009 at 8:35 am

Also a FB fan!

By Nicole on March 6th, 2009 at 10:14 am

I LOVE the produce bags. This has always been an issue for us. I save the ones from the store and re-use them but they only last a couple times and are hard to keep up with. What a PERFECT solution and fantastic idea!!

By Nicole on March 6th, 2009 at 10:15 am

I am a subscriber!

By Nicole on March 6th, 2009 at 10:16 am

I am sharing my e-mail

By Nicole on March 6th, 2009 at 10:16 am

Also a facebook fan

By Cindy on March 6th, 2009 at 11:43 am

The sandwich baggies look cool!

By Cindy on March 6th, 2009 at 11:43 am

subscriber

By Cindy on March 6th, 2009 at 11:44 am

Facebook fan!

By Karen on March 6th, 2009 at 12:09 pm

I love the lunchbox napkins. I use cloth napkins at home; why not use them for lunchboxes?

By Karen on March 6th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

subscriber

By Anna Lynch on March 6th, 2009 at 3:43 pm

I’m a fan of it all. I think my favorites for frequent use are the baggies and napkins, though. Fun prints!

By Anna Lynch on March 6th, 2009 at 3:43 pm

Subscriber

By Anna Lynch on March 6th, 2009 at 3:44 pm

FB fan!

By Anna Lynch on March 6th, 2009 at 3:47 pm

email

By Laura on March 6th, 2009 at 9:52 pm

subscriber — very eco-ol stuff!

By Jen @ One Moms World on March 6th, 2009 at 10:20 pm

I love the reusable bags and the produce bags. Very cool. I am all about going more green and this is the way to go.

By Tiffany on March 7th, 2009 at 7:10 am

I love the birthday napkins- in fact, with 4 kids I think I’ll order a couple of set for my house and a couple for my little one’s daycare!

Tiffany

By Crystal on March 7th, 2009 at 1:58 pm

I love the funky lunch box napkins. My son would love to use those, especially at preschool.
Thanks!

By Crystal on March 7th, 2009 at 1:59 pm

I’m a subscriber.

By Crystal on March 7th, 2009 at 2:00 pm

I’m a member of the Facebook fan page.

By Susan on March 7th, 2009 at 2:13 pm

I love the reusable baggies and the napkins!

By Elaine on March 7th, 2009 at 10:06 pm

I love ALL the stuff. So neat. What great things.
I love to re-use!

By Elaine on March 7th, 2009 at 10:06 pm

Subscriber

By Judy on March 27th, 2009 at 8:53 pm

These reuseable baggies look really neat. I would be the envy of some of my coworkers if I came to work with these unique baggies. Super cool..!!!! Also love to Facebook… easy way to keep up with friends and family.

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