I’d love to purchase a wool lunchbag, but at $55 it’s beyond my current budget. Probably most of you have read Daniel Goleman’s book, Ecological Intelligence. He discusses the many aspects we now must factor in when making a purchase. I see it as a 5 pointed star, each point having an aspect that we consider with purchases. Cost, quality, health impacts, environmental impacts, and sociological impacts (such as how workers and our four legged friends even are treated). For some, they just can’t get past cost because of budget constraints. That is frustrating. At least we can have awareness of the multiple considerations we can make as we buy things.

Thanks for the great information at this site!

But before I jump into that, I’ll give some overview on the making of the bag that will help address some of the questions and comments. The bag was our first try at developing a custom insulated bag like this. It was made by a fantastic coop of skilled immigrant women based in Ottawa, Canada. We wanted an insulated bag that was completely devoid of plastic. And we thought that is what we were getting until we received the finished bags with the ingredient labels sewn in and saw there was 2% spandex. We had been under the impression the materials were all natural, but I guess we had not been completely clear. We considered not selling them, but thought that would be such a waste – it’s almost devoid of plastic. So the next batch will not have the spandex in them. We had originally wanted the bag to be made of organic materials as well. That would have doubled the cost, and also the head of the coop strongly suggested against this. The cotton was sourced from India, and in her experience she did not feel we could be absolutely certain that it actually was organic (FYI, both she and I have Indian background). So we’ll see for the next batch, but keep in mind that an organic locally made bag will be significantly more expensive.

Sarah S, I’ll just expand a bit on Beth’s explanation of the washing instructions. As the washing instructions indicate, it’s important that for the first wash, you add some salt to the water to fix the color because the denim has not been pre-washed (another surprise for us, but in our next batch it will be!). Other than the color, the concern with the washing machine is the wool, and that it might bunch up or shrink. As I mentioned to Beth, we have friends who have washed the bags in the machine and they were just fine. Yes, the key is to wash it in COLD water on the GENTLE cycle, as this should preserve the wool fine (though we cannot guarantee this).

Now on to the wool issue. Thank you Anna @Green Talk and Leah for your awesome eye-opening comments on the wool industry. I’m sorry to say that this is not something we looked into in detail. We totally agree on the need to reduce unnecessary suffering in all its forms. We know the coop sources the wool lining from a company they trust in Toronto, but I can’t tell you more than that right now. We have not researched the wool industry and I actually wasn’t aware of all the details you mention, but I am not surprised, as most large scale industry is problematic. We will certainly look into this for the next batch. We actually live in the country and we have organic farmer friends who have sheep – and they are treated very well (certainly no unethical practices). Maybe we could see about sourcing the wool from them. I really don’t have a response for vegans who are uncomfortable using wool. This is obviously a personal decision that we completely respect.

And about cooling techniques – we agree with Anna @Green Talk’s method of using a stainless steel bottle filled with very cold water. This is what we have used in our son’s bag and it works quite well. Thank you Sarah, for the cold rice sock technique – sounds great and we will try it out.

So overall, we feel this bag is a good start as an alternative to plastic insulated lunch bags. Thank you all for helping us to make it better all the time!

For myself, I had a terrible lapse of plastic-free consciousness today. I bought a metronome at a music store. Now, not only was the metronome made of plastic, but it was also (of course) WRAPPED in plastic. It honestly didn’t even occur to me until I was out the store and halfway home, I was just so lost in all the beautiful instruments in the store, and focused on this idea of getting a metronome. Completely did not think it through.

Sometimes I think about giving up on the whole thing entirely, but it cheers me that people like yourself are out there seeking out options like this wool lunch bag. Thank you!
.-= margery´s last blog ..yogurt failure #3 =-.

Anyways, this is fabulous news, and I will absolutely look into them. I have concerns about my kid’s current lunch bag, which is plastic, but I hadn’t seen any good alternatives. This looks like it totally fits the bill.
.-= Amber´s last blog ..Breastfeeding Father =-.

Sarah S, Jay got back to me tonight about the washing question. Here is what he wrote me:

“Re the washing machine, we don’t recommend it because of the wool, which can shrink and bunch up, but we have friends who have done and the bag and wool have actually survived just fine.”

I think you would want to make sure the bag was washed in cold water and not agitated too much.

Condo Blues, the kitty is actually Arya. (Note tiny bit of white on paw.) She is the explorer. Soots just lies around looking impressive. When strangers come over, Arya is all over them and their shoes. Soots is hinding under the bed.
.-= Beth Terry´s last blog ..Disagreeing on Green Values: Why Michael Thinks I’m Ned Flanders =-.

Keep up the good work; you are an inspiration.

It is a proven fact that most wool industries are extremely inhumane. Their practices range from bad to horribly inhumane. One would think that merely shearing wool from the back of a sheep is innocuous however, big animal business always finds a way to put profits ahead of humane-ness. “Mulesing” is just one awful practice where chunks of flesh are carved out of a sheep’s rump (without anesthetic) to prevent flies. Often hundreds of sheep are left dying, or rotting away with injuries because of serious neglect and lack of vet care.

The neglect, abuse and painful procedures the sheeps endure, are just not worth using wool.

Recycled fibers from cloth, newsprint, rubber, etc, might be a better option…