Goodbyn Review

Reuseit.com was having a huge sale last month in honor of Earthy Day, so I finally broke down and bought some lunchboxes. We've been using some plastic containers with lids along with some reusable bags Subway was kind enough to provide for us (see side story at the bottom of this post), but with another son starting kindergarten next fall, my husband packing lunches also, and me using those same containers for leftovers, we realized that we didn't have enough lunch containers to go around. So I bought these:

Goodbyn Lunchbox

When my oldest started kindergarten last fall, I shopped around for a lunchbox for him, and eventually narrowed it down to the PlanetBox and the Goodbyn. Because it's made out of stainless steel, the PlanetBox edged out ahead. But the PlanetBox is also very pricey, so when I saw these Goodbyns on sale at Reuseit, I decided to go ahead and buy a couple.

What I like about them:

• Packaging: A simple, recyclable cardboard sleeve.
• Materials: The lunchboxes are made of #5 polypropylene plastic and the bottles are made of #2 high-density polyethylene. All are lead, BPA and phthalate-free.
• Manufacturing: Goodbyns are manufactured in the U.S.A.!
• Affordability: Although they regularly cost around $30, I was able to get mine for much less because of the sale and an extra discount I had.
• Extras:
• Except for the bottle, it's all one piece - no lids and containers to keep track of.
• The food compartments are designed cafeteria-tray style so the food doesn't touch or leak onto each other. I filled one up with water, shook it around awhile, and it held up fine, but Goodbyn recommends not putting really runny things in them.
  
• It's recyclable at the end of it's life.
• It's dishwasher safe.
• The kids can use stickers to individualize them.
  

A few complaints:

• Getting the lids on tightly takes some technique. Goodbyn says the lunchboxes are designed for K-4, but I'm not sure my kindergartner could handle it without help. I'm holding on to these until he starts first grade next year.
• These lunchboxes are huge. They're like half the size of my little guy, and though not heavy, they are bulky.
• Plastic is not the same quality as stainless steel. I'm hoping these lunchboxes will get my two oldest through fourth grade, when they'll be passed down to my youngest. But I don't see them lasting longer than that, if they even last that long.
• They are very cutesy. Will a fourth grader find them too uncool?

Unfortunately, I don't have a Goodbyn to giveaway today, but in a couple weeks, I will be running a giveaway from Reuseit.com so you may be able to buy your own then!

You may have noticed the new Reuseit.com Ambassadors logo over in my sidebar. I recently joined their ambassador program because I think they're a great company with some great values and I'm happy to help them spread the word about the reusables movement (and hopefully you all will get to reap some great rewards as well). If you're new to this blog and are interested in trimming your waste line, you might want to spend some time reviewing the posts tagged "waste" for ideas on storing produce without packaging, packing waste free lunches, switching to cloth bags, and more.

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• Disclosure: I got a discount on this product for being a Reuseit.com ambassador, but I still bought them myself. Most of the information in this review comes from Goodbyn's website, but the opinions are my own.
• Side story: While vacationing, I stopped at Subway for lunch because it's a pretty good place to get a low-waste, healthy meal. Unfortunately, my kids were being completely insane, and the cashier was old, incredibly slow, and totally clueless. I wanted to shout at her, "If you would just hurry up, my kids could start eating and then they'll be good!!!" But instead she kept pausing in ringing us up to bribe my kids with straws and soda...and finally the reusable bags the kids meals come in (even though we hadn't ordered kids meals). Bless her heart, she was just trying to help. But so much for my attempt at a low-waste meal!