Around the time that Sophia was born, I became more aware of some of the issues surrounding plastic. I had always naturally been more of a fan of wooden toys for Tobin, however, I really took it to the next level by ridding ourselves of most of our plastic toys, tupperware food storage and drinking vessels. At first, my husband throught I had gone crazy, and would just shake his head and smile at me as he headed out the door to work with his lunch; a handful of leftover baked ziti in a ball of tin foil. We purchsed stainless steel water bottles, began using ceramic jugs for juice made from concentrate, used Born Free bottles for the baby and little by little adjusted to our new way of doing things.
I didn't like the idea of using plastic wrap so much, or the idea of just how many plastic baggies were being thrown in the garbage, so I decided to come up with something that would work for me. I decided to sew reusable sandwich baggies, made from fun cloth material, but lined with oilcloth that could be wiped clean. This was actually one of my fist ideas of what I could make to begin a little Etsy shop, however, time went by and my creative energies were pulled in a variety of different directions, based on the needs of our family...mass production of said sandwich baggies were put on hold.
When I was going through my craft closets, prior to the craft fair, I came accross some baggies that were just shy of being completed, including a set that I had made with Tobin in mind, using a fun fabric with airplanes on it. I finished them off with velcro and my label for the craft show, Etsy or wherever they might land. More than any of that though, I was happy to have that one special set, something handmade to send with Tobin to school in September. Even though we had purchased his school back pack and lunch box from a store, each time he opened his lunch, he would see his snacks packed in these little baggies, with my Mama loves you label {reminding me of the I love you, xoxo, my mother would write on my napkin when I was a child} accross the front, and he would know that I was thinking of him...
These baggies were not all that difficult to make, just alot of wrong side sewing, turning right side out, and ironing, {that was tricky in that you don't want to melt your oil cloth}. I do have some baggies in the Etsy shop and am feeling inspired to work on some of the other fabrics I have cut and ready to go for making baggies. Even after a couple of years, we still don't have it all together in the plastic that we use {or do not use}, or whether or not it is done well {John still uses tin foil for ziti?} But I feel good that we are making an effort towards doing something good for the environment. I feel extra good that even though I won't be eating lunch with my big boy and school, he will have a piece of home with him and know that we love him more than anything and that we can't until 2:45 to hear all about what he learned and did in school!
alison
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