ECOlunchbox’s Plastic-Free mission since 2008 is more important than ever

While the continuing pandemic, recession woes, critical supply chain dysfunctions, surging inflation and the war in Ukraine grabbed headlines in 2022, the plight of plastic pollution has insidiously continued to threaten our planet.

ECOlunchbox persevered through these numerous marketplace challenges and successfully continued to sell its plastic-free food containers. We stayed true to our mission since 2008 to educate, inspire and empower people to say goodbye to plastic. Plus, we launched an innovative new product called the Blue Water Bento Insulated Canister, which is best in class with its thermal performance and circular design.

While it may sound like strange praise to lavish on ourselves, our family owned B Corporation is proud we maintained our products consistently in stock (no small feat given the dire manufacturing and freight problems) in our warehouse and sold thousands of plastic-free lunch boxes, bentos and zero waste accessories to consumers, stores and distributors globally. 

Demand for plastic-free products like ours continues to rise! ECOlunchbox’s beloved responsibly made products continued to garner praise from its socially and environmentally conscious community. ECOlunchbox, a woman-owned business, continued to operate as carbon neutrally as possible, offsetting its operational carbon footprint through the purchase of renewable energy certificates and undertaking numerous other eco-friendly initiatives. Our products are tools for change, enabling planet-loving consumers to protect the planet and their own health from toxic plastic. 

Read on to learn more about ECOlunchbox’s 2022 news.

Circular Product Launch & Education

We Offset Our Carbon Footprint

Joining Forces With Other B Corps

New ECOlunchbox Corporate Gift Guide

Giving Back To Our Community

Circular Product Launch & Education

Our Blue Water Bento Canister launched in 2002 is first-to-market when it comes to a thermal food container conceived a circular, 100% plastic-free design. When we set out to design this canister, we were determined to create an exceptional ECOlunchbox product with long-term usability that could be mindfully recycled and biodegraded (instead of discarded in a landfill) at end-of-life. 

To learn more about how our design makes it easy to recycle/biodegrade the container instead of tossing it in a landfill when it's no longer useful, click here. 

Since ECOlunchbox’s inception, we have described our products as healthy for people and the planet. We have consistently put to market plastic-free products and over the years removed all plastic from our product packaging. ECOlunchbox has always been thinking about whether our products are made from materials that are non-harming of people and planet. 

Plus, we have ensured through independent third party testing that our products are non-toxic and meet high food safety standards. Lastly, we have prioritized materials, like stainless steel, that are reclaimed at end of use and recycled at very high rates. Unlike plastic, which is recycled globally at a rate of less than 10%, steel is recycled at a rate of more than 85%, according to a study by Yale University researchers.

The approach we’ve taken to our ECOlunchbox products is “circular design.” In 2022, we published an end-of-life ECOlunchbox product guide for our ECOlunchbox user community specifically instructing them on how to make sure food containers they are disposing of do not end up clogging our landfills. The guide is part of our efforts to educate consumers about how to vote with their pocketbooks by purchasing products made with circular design principles.

We Offset Our Carbon Footprint

Did you know that ECOlunchbox offsets its carbon footprint? That means we take actions to measure our carbon footprint and compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions that our eco-friendly business creates. We believe that businesses should help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Offsetting your carbon footprint means taking actions to compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions that you are responsible for, in order to reduce your environmental impact and contribute to the fight against climate change. By offsetting their carbon footprint, businesses can help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and mitigate the effects of climate change.

So we purchased Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) to match our electricity usage in 2022. We are buying carbon offsets to offset our remaining carbon footprint generated through direct emissions of owned assets and by offsetting estimated metric tonnes of CO2 from inbound shipping and company travel. Carbon is sequestered by the offset projects we support in purchasing these certificates and offsets.

Joining Forces With Other B Corps

Consumers are increasingly seeking to buy products that are responsibly made like ECOlunchboxes, but it’s not always easy to find small brands that are following high social and environmental standards. That’s why ECOlunchbox joined forces in 2022 with a few fellow B Corp brands to form a marketplace with vetted products sold by our friends at Bambu whose bamboo straws and utensils we sell in our online store.

The B Corporation Marketplace is part of a collaboration strategy we will continue in 2023 to win market share by joining forces with other responsibly made brands. Because the companies’ products are non competes, we can work together to cross sell our products and thereby increase our positive impact.

Big companies with big advertising budgets capture the lion’s share of the consumers’ attention. Small businesses that don’t have the budget for these kinds of tactics, so alternate methods of spreading the word are required. The other challenge for small businesses like ECOlunchbox is winning buyers away from Amazon and other massive third-party marketplaces offering quick free shipping, automatic returns and other benefits.

A recent B Corp survey found that more than one-third of U.S. and Canadian adults are aware of B Corp and view its certification standards as trusted and rigorous. Consumers who are familiar with B Corp are more likely to purchase from B Corps than competing brands.

New ECOlunchbox Corporate Gift Guide

ECOlunchbox launched its ECOlunchbox Corporate Gift Guide in 2022 to encourage corporations, schools and non-profit organizations to purchase our products as a means of spreading awareness about the plastic pollution crisis.

We created the guide for organizations explaining how there are numerous ways ECOlunchbox can partner on bulk purchases. For example, we can drop ship custom gift sets to individuals, create custom products with unique colors and sizes as well as add etched logos to our stainless steel ECOlunchboxes.

For all the details, check out our ECOlunchbox Corporate Gift Guide.

Giving Back To Our Community

Continuing our commitment to invest in causes we care about, ECOlunchbox made donations in 2022 to an ocean non-profit, a Native American land trust group, an elementary school and the American Civil Liberties Union. In addition to making these cash donations, we also made in-kind donations of our products for fundraising events and other worthy causes.