What: Free Bird Bad Habits Lunch Tote

Where: MightyNest – $21.95

Why We Love It: “Bad Habits are Disposable Good Habits are Reusable” is a good motto to live by, and this reusable lunch tote from Rebel Green makes it easier to embrace good habits like skipping the brown bag at lunch time. Made in the USA from 100% organic cotton and printed with low impact inks, this cheeky tote is great for lunches on the go for kids or grown-ups. Pair it with a reusable cloth napkin for added ‘green.’

What: Onyx Popsicle Mold

Where: Amazon – $39.95

Why We Love It: Finally feels like summer has arrived here and the Northeast, and what better way to stay cool on a warm summer afternoon than with a delicious homemade popsicle? Ohh, takes us back to days in Mexico where this street vendor made the best mango popsicles loaded with fresh fruit, soo good…

Replace your old plastic popsicle molds with a durable, BPA-free, stainless steel mold from Onyx. These guys really know their popsicles and have designed their molds so that you can easily remove, and refill, one popsicle at a time. The silcone rings ensure proper stick placement, so no more worries about tilted, sunken or popped out sticks. All you need is to get creative and find some yummy recipes to test out. (Here’s 50 to get you started from TipNut).

Each set comes with one stand, 6 molds, 6 lids and 12 removable silicone rings.

Also thinking of upgrading to stainless steel ice cube tray to keep the BPA out of my drinks!

What: PlanetBox Lunchbox

Where: Amazon – $59.95

Why We Love It: We are always on the lookout for lunch boxes that make packing, cleaning, toting and reusing safe and easy, and the PlanetBox delivers. It’s a tv dinner tray meets bento box with a compartmental design based on the general nutritional standards for children. So when packing up your child’s lunch (or your own lunch!), you’ll have plenty of space to pack a healthy, well-balanced lunch. Specifically a good option for picky who don’t like their foods to ‘touch’ where the top and bottom of the lids touch so there is no spillage between compartments.

PlanetBoxes are made from the same high quality food safe stainless steel that’s used in hospitals and commercial kitchens; free of lead, phthalates, and BPA so there is no worry of toxins leaching into your food. The steel itself contains up to 60% recycled content and is 100% recyclable. The collection of coordinating magnets to decorate your PlanetBox are made of a synthetic rubber material, not toxic PVC like most magnets.

Steel and metal sourced from Korea and Japan. Manufactured in Taiwan

What: Lolita Hand Painted Tiffin

Where: Kir DeVries – Reg. $129.95, 40% off with coupon code moving40 ($77.97) through 1/31/11.

Why We Love It: Now this cute and compact lunch valet makes us want to pack up some scones and jam along with 3 of our best friends and head out for lunch in the park, if only there weren’t 2 feet of snow of the ground. Bygones. The four roomy compartments of the Tiffin (British Indian for ‘light lunch’) stack neatly together for easy transport and open to reveal four metal serving bowls. It’s also great for keeping lunch components separate without having to wrestle with loose containers. Nice, neat, easy and reusable.

And because it’s made of stainless steel, you don’t have to worry about harmful BPA’s. Each Tiffin is skilfully hand painted by craftspeople from Kashmir providing sustainable employment for people in the region.

Who:

What: Clear Top Tin Containers

Where: Specialty Bottle -  Round Tins, Square Tins & Rectangular Tins – $0.63 – $1.25/each! (Bulk discounts available too!)

Why We Love It: Ever since reading Time Magazines “The  Perils of Plastics“, and learning more and more about the dangers of the unregulated chemicals and toxins found in plastics – seriously, it’s frightening – we’ve been on a mission to cut down on the amount of plastic in our lives, particularly in the kitchen. We’ve weaned ourselves off of plastic water bottles, plastic baggies, ziplok bags, but the last thing to go has been our plastic tupperware containers. We’ve been using empty salsa and pasta sauce jars for leftover soups, but we just haven’t found a viable or affordable alternative for the rest of  our leftovers. We’ve found a majority of the glass or stainless steel containers run around $10 each, so we’d easily be spending $100 and still not have enough containers to get us through the week…

Then we discovered Specialty Bottle. They’ve got a huge collection of glass and tin containers at unbelievably low prices. They typically sell to customers in the gourmet food or natural products industry, but they sell to the public too.  We are suckers for containers and love their tin containers available in rounds, squares and rectangles. They are made of food grade,* FDA approved tin (still waiting to test out if they are dishwasher friendly because that’s a “deal breaker” if they aren’t…) and a food grade clear acrylic top so you can see what you’ve got inside. Already imagining how organized our cupboards and fridge will be with these sharp looking tin containers. The only downside – they are on the small side – so better for spices, sauces and smaller leftovers, when empty they don’t nest well and the lids aren’t interchangeable as with our reused takeout containers, but it’s all baby steps towards a life less toxic! (for bigger left overs, try their glass jars with metal lids…)

*According to Specialty Bottle  ‘food grade’ essentially means that the product/coating meets all FDA requirements and all components are not harmful for human consumption if food is placed within them. Also that materials will not rub off or distribute on to any food product.

Redesign your home on a dime. Right now save on all Home Accents from Burke Decor with free shipping on orders over $50.

Who:

What: ReUsable Sandwich Bags

Where: ReSnackIt – snack size – $7.99, sandwich size – $9.99 (Buy 3 or more ReSnackIts and receive 10% off)

Why We Love It: If we are going to change the way we consume, it helps to start with kids. We’ve seen 4 year olds reach for their reusable bottles and reusable snack bags, and they’ll certainly be reaching for them if they are as fun and brightly colored as the reusable snack and sandwich bags from ReSnackIt. With bags like these, who needs Ziplok? Not only do they help reduce waste being trucked to landfills (think about it, approximately 20 million plastic baggies are thrown away in US schools every week, every week! That’s insanity!), but they also keep harmful chemicals like lead, phthalates, BPAs and PVCs away from our food.

The outside of ReSnackIt bags including the trim are made from 100% cotton and the inner lining is made from a lead free, phthalate free, BPA free, PVC (vinyl) free, non-dyed nylon. The nylon lining also helps to keep bread and snacks fresh without drying them out. The Velcro closure is adjustable so it can accommodate various sized snacks. There are two types of fabric, a heavy canvas and a more basic cotton – the ones pictured are the heavy canvas as are the plain colored baggies. The colors and fabric choices are great for kids and grown-ups.

The bags are easy to clean, just rinse and dry or for heavy cleaning, turn them inside out and toss in the washing machine - not the dishwasher

Who:

What: reusable snack pouches

Where: etsy – small $12, large $16 or a combo for $28. Spend $40 or more & receive a free
reusable produce bag!

Why We Love It: These are the cutest pouches ever! Amy’s adorably sweet illustrations make these reusable cloth bags so endearing that even the most devoted zip-lock bag users might just convert.

Choose from chickadees, bunnies, owls, pandas, trains, planes,  apples and pears, anchors in a variety of colors all silk-screened onto fabric made of recycled organic cotton and hemp. They are lined with waterproof nylon which makes cleaning a breeze.

And the beauty of these pouches is that when you open them up and roll down the velcro closure, you’ve got a nice little stand up “dish” to enjoy your treats from.

What: “Thirst for Giving” Special Edition Vessels

Where: Amazon.com – $35 (See also the KOR ONE BPA Free Hydration Vessel for $25.99)

Why We Love It: We first spotted the Kors Hydration Vessel at the Green Pavilion of the Architectural Digest Home show last year. Huge fans of the bright colors, the slick cylindrical shape and the innovative flip-top cap hinged to stay in place – no more running around the house in search of our missing screw top caps. The wide-mouthed top also fits ice cubes quite nicely so you can enjoy cool beverages. Another nice feature, for klutzs like ourselves, is the grippy bottom to help avoid inadvertent spills. This is a good sized water bottle, much taller than standard models on the market, but the cylindrical shape fits nicely in the plam of your hand (even our small hands!)

$5 from the sale of each Special Edition vessels is donated to Thirst for Giving. Each bottles feature a unique nature-inspired motif  that reflects the four non-profit organizations that the Thirst for Giving program supports – The Algalita Marine Research Foundation, Blue Planet Run, The Container Recycling Institute and The Wetlands Initiative.

The ‘hydration vessels’ are made of Tritan, a BPA-free plastic that is odor-free, dishwasher safe and 100% recyclable, but since is technically a #7 plastic it is not easily recycled. Kors plans to implement their own take-back recycling program to reclaim the bottles at the end of use.

Related Articles: Earthlust-worthy Designs | DIY Soda | No More Single Use Water Bottles

What: SIGG Concept Snowflake Water Bottle (1.0L)

Where: Amazon.com – $24.99; Sigg Lifestyle Loop Top Water Bottle (1.0-Liters)

Why We Love It: The SIGG label has been around since 1908 and has been known to make high quality durable aluminum products. Their iconic water aluminum water bottles have not changed in shape since 1993, but has broadened its colorful and ever changing designs to include works from over 30 different artists. And today, we are giving away one of their limited Edition Concept Snowflake water bottles.

The bottle is made of 100% recyclable aluminum and features their new BPA-free liner (SIGGs recently came under fire for not disclosing that their old liners contained trace amounts of BPA). The can really take a beating, we’ve dropped ours on ice, pavement, wood floors  and they’ve survived with just a few dents – most SIGGs in Europe are still being used 10-20 years after purchase.

And they’ve been tested and approved by our two 2 year old nieces, who loooove our SIGG water bottle.

Related Articles: SIGG Partners with Drop of Hope Campaign |Giving Up Single-Use Water Bottles

	Enter to win the Concept Snowflake SIGG water bottle by leaving a comment below about another product you’ve seen on UrbanSherp.com that you’d be psyched to win. BONUS! Leave a separate comment anywhere else on Urban Sherp & you’ll get an additional entry for each comment, up to 4 per person! Hurry! This giveaway ends December 28, 2009 at 11:59PM EST. One entry per person. Open to US & Canadian Residents. Official Rules.

Who:

What: Black Flower Stainless Steel Water Bottle

Where: Earthlust – $18 (Subscribers to The Find get 15% off through 12/31)

Why We Love It: Tis’ the season to trade in your single-use water bottles for a totally chic, totally durable reusable stainless steel water bottle from Earthlust. The bottles are made of a double-walled food grade stainless steel that is 100% PVC and BPA-free.  Even the caps are BPA-free, so you can be sure that this bottle is safe to use time and time again.

The bottles are coated with a non-toxic paint featuring gorgeous nature-inspired designs, most of which are limited edition. The problem is, with so many great designs to choose from, it is hard to choose just one!

Take comfort in knowing that your Earthlust purchase is good for your health, good for your wallet and good for the planet and that 1% of the each Earthlust purchase is donated to environmental organizations worldwide as part of the 1% for the Planet Program.

Available in 1L, 20oz bottles and an adorable selection of 13oz bottles for the little ones.

	One lucky Urban Sherp reader will win an Earthlust water bottle of their choice. To enter, visit Earthlust & then leave a comment below telling US which Earthlust bottle you would put on your wishlist (ps – that’s the one you’ll win!) Hurry! This giveaway ends December 1, 2009 at 11:59PM EST. One entry per person. Open to US & Canadian Residents. Official Rules.