At the grocery store this week, I was trying to gather snacks and other food that would be easy to give to the kids while we were either at a park, running errands, or in the mad rush to build our fence. It's such a hard balance to try and be conscientious of health,nutrition and environment and what's realistic for both your time and budget. When packing school lunches or during the rush of summer fun and play dates, it's important to me to have at least a few options of easy-to-grab snacks.
Quaker bars are more convenient and eco-friendly
I came across the new Quaker granola bars Rip N' Go packaging. It's essentially the normal eight-pack of granola bars that you'd get in a box, but instead they are stacked one on top of the other with a sticker running down each side. There is a perforation where each bar is separated, allowing you to simply grab the end and pull up quickly.
I like it not only for its environmental implications (it uses 33% less packaging than their normal box), but it's also really convenient. If we're going for a picnic lunch where I'll be taking more than one with me, they won't get jumbled around and smashed because they're all bound together.
No high fructose corn syrup, too!
I have been choosing the 90 calorie bars that are made without high fructose corn syrup, and have eight grams of whole grains per bar. I can't tell the difference in taste between them and the full-fat bars, so they've been a great alternative for my family.
Green your summer drinks
On the flip-side, we've been out sweating in the hot sun building a fence, which leads to a need for some electrolyte replacement drinks in addition to mass quantities of water. Instead of grabbing a bunch of little bottles, I got the biggest containers possible and just refilled our reusable water bottles since we were going to be right near the refrigerator through the duration of the project.
In trying to be as green as possible for your own individual family, you will definitely find the areas where you compromise, those in which you excel and others where you know you're just doing the best that you can. Enjoy summer and all that it has to offer!
When Sara isn't busy chasing her kids, testing out new recipes or knitting up a storm, she can be found as SallyHP at Sex and the Knitty and its companion blog Knitty Reviews.
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