At ECOlunchbox, we've been on the circular design bandwagon dating back to our founding in 2008. That's when we launched the first-to-market, plastic-free food container company in California. Our company's trademarked tagline has been "Health For People and Planet" for 13 years. Every minute a garbage truck of plastic is dumped in our oceans. If we continue unremitted, it is expected to increase to two per minute by 2030 and four per minute by 2050. That would mean that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the world's oceans.

Circular Vs. Regular Product Design Educational Chart

For high res version of this chart for download and printing, download it here.

Plastic Free Semper Fi Since 2008

So ECOlunchbox has taken a stand to demonstrate the potential of building a for-profit business on a mission and putting to market products that we believe will help turn the tides on plastic pollution. The Blue Water Bento Insulated Canister we are launching is just the latest in a long string of products we’ve put to market to help educate, inspire and empower people to reduce their dependence on plastics for healthy and environmental reasons. We invite companies globally to join us in endeavoring to imagine and produce uncompromising, exceptional circular products with the potential to heal our Earth.

While the phrase “Healthy For People and Planet” may sound a little cliché in 2022, the expression was fresh at the time of our founding at the kitchen table of eco mom Sandra Ann Harris. Our tagline communicated that ECOlunchbox, as a mission-based B Corporation and California Green Business, continually endeavors to market products that are non-toxic for humans, i.e., no plastic, BPA, or other chemicals as respectful of the environment, i.e., recyclable. So far, we’ve sold hundreds of thousands of plastic-free food containers and other lunch ware products, thereby averting millions of pieces of plastic trash annually from use and disposal, according to our continually updated planet impact reporting.

Until recently, we characterized our products as “deep green” since we thought consumers would best understand our philosophy with this phrasing. Now we’re rephrasing our philosophy to call it “circular” design. The underpinnings of our approach have not changed.

We’ve developed a chart to help educate our customers about what circular thinking means. Plus, we’ve created a spreadsheet enumerating all our products and giving specific directions regarding end-of-life handling. If you don’t need your ECOlunchbox product anymore, the first recourse is to gift it or donate it. But you’ll need to recycle or biodegrade some items if they are no longer usable.

We invite you to take a peek at our chart for some basic guidelines and click through to a Google spreadsheet for the item-by-item guidance if you’re ready for a deep dive into circular learning

To check out all our products and learn more about how to handle recycling, composting and other alternatives at end-of-life, view the chart here.

If your business or organization wants to take part in this movement and move away from plastic waste, our sister company CircularWare can help. To learn more about what we can do for you, please visit the CircularWare website.

To learn more about ECOlunchbox Launches Blue Water Bento Insulated Canister, read this article.

To learn more about ECOlunchbox’s Circular Designs Model, click HERE.