Sandwiches and Snacks -- Time To Bag The Ziplocks Forever More!

Zip top plastic bags -- ahhh, such a handy convenience. As soon as they entered the marketplace, archaic "fold and tuck" baggies were left in the dust, and with good reason. Now, any one of us could suddenly tote along drippy sticky items, shake them upside down in their nifty resealable envelope and effortlessly demonstrate to agasp spectators that the messy contents could never escape. For several decades now, they've been the go-to bag for the sandwiches and snacks of an entire race of modern consumers. Uh oh...then we found out about the environmental destruction that our plastic habit has been causing. It prompted us to take pause, feel sincerely crummy about how many holey shopping bags we've chucked throughout the years and start embracing reusable shopping bags.

For some reason though, it hasn't yet occurred to the majority of us that we probably blow through even more zip top bags than we do grocery bags -- and if you have kiddies in the house, oh lordy, you better bury your head in the sand. Of course, we could opt for reusable plastic containers but with Bisphenol A (BPA) concerns at an all time high, it isn't a choice that many people feel entirely comfortable with...and glass containers -- while great for steady-handed, non-klutzy adults -- aren't exactly so ideal for children. That's where reusable sandwich wraps come in. Available in an impressive variety of styles and colors, the main aspect of these protective pouches is that they are lined with a material that can easily be wiped and reused ad nauseum...and even tossed into the washing machine when sandwich explosions occur.

Oprah is a huge fan of the Velcro-adjustable Snack Taxi fabric sandwich sacks, so lucky for them because now their sales have blown through the roof.

Lined with coated nylon and available in a wild palette of funky patterns, they are priced at approximately $8.95 per pouch, as are the practically identical in design ReUsies Snack Bags.

Wrap-N-Mat uses a different approach with their food grade, BPA-free polyethylene vinyl acetate lined cotton placemat that folds up into a convenient sandwich wrap with a Velcro closure. Appearance wise, it is a lot more no-nonesense but it does the job cleverly and cleaning up is a breeze.

Fresh Snack Pack Reusable Sandwich and Snack Bags ($4.95 each) also go for practicality by emulating the design of a simple envelope, except that their entire Velcro-closed version is made out of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) which the FDA says is non toxic, BPA-free and safe for food.

There are also drawstring pouches made of organic cotton muslin and recycled PET plastic bottles (both by Acme Bags), Lunch Skins made out of a German oil cloth material and Dago Green Bags made out of flexible nylon.

If, however, you want to take a stab at making your own simple envelope-style reusable sandwich bags, it's a surprisingly easy project if you have a sewing machine on hand. There are oodles of other reusable sandwich bag tutorials online, but if you appreciate the simplicity of the design pictured above, it's pretty easy to achieve. Just purchase some oilcloth from a craft store and cut several 8 1/2″ x 16 1/2″ rectangles out with pinking shears (depending on how many you want to make). Turn the edges of each rectangle under 1/4″, sew them and then with the wrong sides facing each other, fold the oilcloth rectangles over, leaving 2 1/2″ of extra material for the flap closure. Finally, stitch along each side to form a pocket for your sandwich, attach a square of Velcro on the flap and pocket of the reusable sandwich bag and voila -- you're on the road to zip top baggie liberation!