It seems like I'm doing a lot of packing these days. Packing for a new home, sure, but also packing groceries, packing leftovers, packing lunch. In all of these endeavors, we strive to be as green as we can be, and one way in which we do that is to replace, as much as possible, disposable goods with reusable ones. That's not to say I think everything has to be replaced with some fancy-pants "green" product - in a lot of cases a little conservation or ingenuity can take the place of a new gadget. But these six products (or similar) are all ones we use in our home, and each has succeeded in seamlessly replacing their garbage-making counterparts. Some require a smidge more work than something you don't have to clean or fill; some, though, actually save on effort.

1. Reusable silicon lids. We have the super generic version of these; the internet doesn't even seem to know about our particular brand, which is Super Stretchy Lids (not just Super Stretch Lids, which seems to be the dominant company in this game). You can pick up a set of six lids in different sizes for about $15 from Amazon. Are they worth it? Well, they replace plastic wrap and aluminum foil in the kitchen, and even save you time on hunting down the right storage container lid. If you'd normally transfer leftovers from, say, a casserole dish to a Tupperware container, these save that effort and the dishes you'd have to wash. My dishwasher-less self regards any dish-saving product as a genius invention.

2. Reusable Sandwich Wraps. Along a similar vein, these sandwich wraps are a clever way to ditch the plastic sandwich bags. I wouldn't think that they're much better than just the reusable snack and sandwich bags we use, except that it does double as a nice clean place mat when it's all open. I love that idea at Lou's germy preschool, and really any germy place anywhere. About $10 from One Step Ahead.

3. Reusable Lunch Bags. These things are great. We use both Lunch Skins and Snack Taxi (which has an awesome line of other food and kitchen products). When I first found them, I paid a premium and a local home goods shop in DC (Home Rule on 14th St. NW, for locals); now they are everywhere, including lining the checkout lines at Marshall’s and TJ Maxx. I tend to use them as a toss-and-go snack option when we're headed out for a bunch of errands. I can fill them up with snacks and put them in my purse...I guess the same way you'd use plastic baggies. They’re easy to clean – I either rinse or throw in the washing machine and then line dry – and some, like Lunch Skins, boast dishwasher-ability. There are also a million and one tutorials out there on making your own. See here, here, and here. At up to $8 per bag, they're a bit pricey, but I think they are well worth the investment; we've had ours for at least 3 years, and they are holding up well. Plus, you can get them much cheaper if you look at discount stores or make your own. 

4. Reusable Produce Bags. I actually wouldn't assume you'd need something like this; why not just skip the produce bag altogether? But there are some things it's nice to be able to corral, like cherries, and there are some cashiers who just can't abide by the thought of your peaches rolling around in the bottom of your (reusable!) grocery tote. Rather than go to all out war with our friendly neighborhood grocers - and even farmers' market purveyors - I just bought these. Now all is calm and peaceful on the checkout front, and I'll admit: I feel like a super-prepared mommy blogger when I'm filling mine up with produce. They rinse clean pretty easily. In all, it makes me feel a lot better to not look down into the grocery bag I bothered to remember and see a sea of plastic bags too small to serve many other uses at home. About $5 for a pack of 5 from Target.

5. Water bottle. I know this isn't revolutionary. It's just dear to my heart. Disposable water bottles are just such a ripoff. There's a time and a place, like when you're traveling or just really thirsty and forgot yours, but we're doing our best to make carrying one second nature. I'll admit that I don't yet have this sleek Birchwood model from S'well - but I covet it. And since they'll plant a tree when you buy one, I think this is one justifiable purchase. $25.

6. Fillable Soft Food Pouches. If you have kids, you probably rely on a number of suckable snacks. They're all the rage, and like with drive-thrus and expensive strollers, I didn't really get it 'til I actually had a child. Then I really, really got it. Mess-free and super fast, these work almost like a pacifier, even after your kid has long outgrown one (that is, you just stick it in the kid's mouth and have silence for a minute). But the pouches aren't always recyclable (Terracycle does do some, though), and I'm not a huge fan of what's in some of them, especially the yogurt versions. So, since Lou was a wee babe, we've been using a version of these. We started with the infant version from Sili, and I would fill with whatever foods I'd mashed up for her to eat. Now we use the large ones from Squooshi, and we tend to stick to applesauce and yogurt (which we buy plain, Greek, and flavor ourselves with jelly or honey). Compared to their zero-effort counterparts, these do involve some work. But they're really remarkably easy to clean and fill. So far, we have only had one blowout, and then while I was doing my best to test its limits before I packed it in Lou's bag, which probably shouldn't count.

7. A Bento-type lunch box. We don't actually have this snazzy version from Pottery Barn Kids, but my sister-in-law does and I love it. We use these little snappable boxes from Rubbermaid, and we will for a while. I'm not crazy about plastic and food, but these work really well for us, and I don't want to throw them away for the sake of it. But why the Bento thing? I find that filling up tiny containers with different food really encourages leftover use, and I am obsessed with not throwing away food. Doesn't mean I'm great at it, just that I really, really strive not to. Plus, it makes the whole lunch making process easier. It's just like: Protein, veg, fruit, carb, check, check, check, dunzo. In case you're wondering, we don't tend to do popular movie themes or cut our carrots into flowers or anything. I feel like you should know that.

So that's it. I hope stuff like this is useful; I certainly find product recommendations to be a nice thing. You know, when you trust the source. Smiley emoticon.

We've also got plans to share some techniques we've adopted to green things up (like the DIY Swiffer I shared a while back) that I hope inspires. If it's green, it's likely going to save you money, so that's always a perk, too.

Thanks as always for reading, and see you tomorrow.