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Review and Giveaway! Citizenpip Lunch Kits!

By Karina | December 9, 2009

citizenpip.jpgWe were contacted by Christina of Citizenpip with a kind offer to provide a lunch kit for review, and to provide a second one for giveaway! Thanks Christina!

So first let me get to the review - this lunch set is SO CUTE. like, really seriously cute. I love it. (Full disclaimer: I think about packing lunch a lot.) It came in a good-sized box that I’m planning to reuse to mail my grandmother her Christmas gift, and tied with a white cotton ribbon. There’s a little bit of plastic included with the wrapping - the silverware are in bags, for example, but in general it’s a fairly wastefree package. Christina sent the “Soup-to-Nuts” kit for review, which includes:

Take a look at the packaging and the kit:

citizenpip2.jpg

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I tested the kit out for a few lunches, and it’s a really great set. The airtight food containers are great - I have two other just like it from a Korean dollar store and haven’t been able to find similar since - they really are airtight, and are really easy to open and close! Plus I can fit all different sizes of containers in the box on those days that I neglect to wash out the regular ones.

The real test came yesterday, however: my employer sent me to an off-site training, and I wasn’t sure what to expect in the way of food opportunities during the day. So I packed up the kit with a thermos of soup, a container full of grilled eggplant, a container full of oyster crackers, and a container full of yogurt with jam for breakfast. I ate the yogurt as soon as I got to the facility (two hours after I packed it, it was still cool). Lunch was provided (and I used the silverware to eat it up!), so I didn’t eat the rest of the food until dinner before I headed back home. The turkey soup was not smokin’ hot, but it was still pleasantly warm! And the whole shebang really nicely into a plain cotton tote that I was bringing some file folders in, so I felt very put together.

So who is this wonderful entity with the cute lunch boxes called Citizenpip? Christina writes:

Citizenpip was inspired by the belief that making small changes in your daily habits can make a significant impact. Feeling guilty about the four plastic baggies I was throwing out each day just from one kid’s lunch, I started using reusable containers. But I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for. I wanted food-safe materials, something airtight and leak-proof, and something I could easily throw in the dishwasher. Figuring a lot of other people might switch to reusable if they could find an easy alternative, I decided to start Citizenpip.

Oh, hey! did you notice? Citizenpip is working on helping make people’s Tinychoices even easier. And no one can argue with wastefree lunches

Obviously this is not the lunch kit for someone who is entirely avoiding plastic. If you’re concerned about BPA and other materials, though, this is an excellent option for you. Their kits are tested to be “muck-free” - aka, lead-free, PVC-free, phthalate-free, and BPA-free.

Plus they have a cool school benefit program if you have kids (or attend) the kind of school that is into group incentives for purchasing - your school will be issued a code, and then every purchase made with this code racks up $ to be returned to the school! AND you’ll be helping other people pack wastefree lunches.

Citizenpip is running a few special incentives for our readers (wow thanks!) through the end of the year:

And now! for the exciting part! Citizenpip has graciously donated one Square Meal kit (in the pattern of your choosing) to be given away to one of our readers in the continental US (sorry non-continental folks!). So to be entered in the contest, leave a comment below with a note about how you carry your lunch with you currently. The winner will be chose at random on Tuesday December 15th.

Good luck!

Topics: Food, Waste | 52 Comments »

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52 Comments

Comment by Jessica
2009-12-09 08:17:21

I have a lunch bag I bought a couple years ago - it is cute, with a pink and black flower design. The biggest problem I have is that I don’t have containers I like. I don’t want to buy additional plastic, but reusing food containers (butter tubs and the like) doesn’t seem very safe (although I do it all the time). I need to commit to an alternative.

 
Comment by Johanna
2009-12-09 09:14:02

I carry my lunch in a beat-up free insulated lunch bag (the kind w/a random company name on it that seem to end up in our house right now). I use random bits of tupperware, as well as a cloth wrap if I’m also eating any bread or cookies.

 
Comment by Molly
2009-12-09 09:46:17

I have two lunch bags (one I purchased and one I got free from a seminar), and I carry my breakfast, lunch and snack every day. I use plastic containers, but mostly because I already had them. For anything that has to be heated, I use some small Pyrex bowls. I also reuse baggies from buying bulk dry goods, at least until the baggies get gross! And yes, I wash them out. ;) My goal is to only buy glass, metal and BPA-free durable plastic in the future. It’s hard to find small containers in metal and glass, though, so plastic is often the best option.

 
Comment by Lizz
2009-12-09 09:49:57

I fill old nut butter jars and small baggies, then stash them in my canvas tote. It’s not a great system as leakage is crappy and I have to find the fridge immediately upon getting to work, but it works for now. I definitely could use an alternative.

 
Comment by Jenn S.
2009-12-09 10:40:08

I bring my breakfast and lunch to work in my reuseable Baggu, with various odds and ends of storage containers that jumble around in my bag. I’m always looking for better solutions for leak-free ways to carry soups and salad dressings. I’ve been carrying baby food jars for salad dressing for awhile, but even those leak on occasion.

 
Comment by Shauna
2009-12-09 10:51:30

I don’t have anyplace to carry a lunch to right now, but would love a kit like this for my little girl to Carey when she starts kindergarden next year.

 
Comment by christie
2009-12-09 11:04:57

i grab whatever cloth bag is closest at the time … this often leaves me looking like a bag lady. ;)

 
Comment by Amy
2009-12-09 11:10:52

I started a new job in July and at the same time received a hand made tote bag from my online friend Roxanne as a thank you for sending her my old copies of Bust magazine. It’s a double layer cotton bag, a cute white and blue pattern on the outside and blue on the inside. It’s a little big for just my lunch but since I usually bring a book along too it works out pretty well. I put my food in a mix of Tupperware, take out containers, and reused glass jars (16 oz McCutcheon’s jam jars are great for liquids). I also carry silverware and a cloth napkin. My lunch tote can also double as a grocery bag if I stop at the store on the way home, I just leave the containers in my car until I get home. I have been looking for a small thermos for hot soup and smaller, leak proof food containers so I can manage my food portions.

I’ll admit I love my tote, but with all of my containers lunchtime resembles some sort of circus clown car as I pull out one thing after another.

Comment by Rox
2009-12-09 22:12:13

Hee hee, that’s me! :)

I also carry my breakfast and lunch in a tote bag made from a friend’s leftover fabric scraps. Mine’s starting to get a little shabby, though! Hint hint, Tiny Choices…

Comment by Amy
2009-12-10 10:52:47

You bet! I love it, I can stuff in my latest library book, my ipod, a notebook, and my lunch. All the work essentials. I think it’s big enough to hold my book and an insulated lunch holder.

 
 
 
Comment by Ruth
2009-12-09 11:38:45

Such a good looking set! When I pack food, it’s in whatever’s available (including sandwich baggies) and tossed in whatever bag I’m taking. Not exactly high on the organized or green lists. Clearly I need help.

 
Comment by chris
2009-12-09 12:53:17

I love love love lunch bags and containers!! Oooh, I hope I win!

I currently carry my lunch to work 99% of the time; I use an insulated bag and lots of reusable plastic containers. Every so often I use a ziploc type baggie for something, but I’m getting away from that as much as I can. I also bring my own cutlery from home, and over the holiday I have plans to sew some cute fabric napkins, too.

I also have a “laptop lunchbox” bento-type lunch container, but I have to admit I don’t use it often . . . it’s more kid-sized than adult-sized, and I usually bring large salads for lunch, so it’s not as compatible with the bento idea.

 
Comment by Emmy Jay
2009-12-09 13:19:14

I use whatever containers are around — mostly plastic, my cute little watertight bento box if it’s clean — and waxed paper sandwich bags if I have a sandwich (not often: I’m more of a leftovers-for-lunch girl.) I carry them in a reusable bag or in my purse/tote if it’s big enough (or my lunch is small enough.) I have an insulated official lunch bag *somewhere*, but finding it never seems to be priority in the mornings. (I’m also not a morning person.)

 
Comment by Alyssa
2009-12-09 13:25:48

I currently buy lunch, because I’m a college student living in the dorms; but next year, I won’t have the luxury of a mealplan. I’ll be in an apartment, which means that I’d loose a lot of money if I don’t pack a lunch! If I don’t win a set, it’ll be okay, because I sure plan on buying one :) They’re so adorable! Good review!

 
Comment by Carla
2009-12-09 13:30:32

When I do bring lunch to work, it’s a grocery bag (uhoh) or my cloth bag filled with cans of soup and frozen meals. For cold stuff I use an awkwardly-shaped insulated bag that I got for free but it has another company’s name on it so I feel like I should hide it. It’d be nice to have a all-in-one kit that could be dedicated for my lunch. And it would encourage me a fresh lunch to work every day! A little container for my tuna, a little container for my cheetos, a little container for some chickpeas…

 
Comment by JenF
2009-12-09 13:40:08

I have a bag I got for free at the clinique counter and I usually use some Rubbermaid containers that looked great until I realized they probably have BPA in them. I would love a new lunch setup!

 
Comment by Melissa
2009-12-09 14:48:55

Ooooh, I hope I win! I LOVE this set up.

My lunch, sadly, currently does not have a “box” of any sort. Instead, the hot part gets put in an old plastic butter container- and I’m pretty sure it is not good for me to warm my food up in those things, but I do it anyway. This gets put in a saved plastic grocery bag (in case it leaks) with a fork. Other part of my lunch goes into a re-used plastic bag, then both bits get stuck into my backpack. Yerch! After an Unfortunate Incident, my water bottle (glass- I’m on my third one, as they keep breaking) gets stuck in the ouch outside my bag. It leaves my water freezing (in winter) or lukewarm (in summer).

Pretty please? I could REALLY use that kit!

 
Comment by Xine
2009-12-09 15:11:13

What adorable kits! What clever designs on the lunchboxes! Those are luncboxes to make folks happy. :) Just knowing about the company has brightened my day.

I carry my lunch in one of two ways. If it doesn’t go in the bags from the reclaimed bag drawer, (used grocery/drugstore/hardware store bags, old bags from a loaf of bread, now dwindling since the household has switched to resuable bags), it can live in my cavernous purse. Unless it is a potentially leaky lunch, o’ course.

I do manage to pack my genteman-friend’s lunch in his little blue lunchbox quite well, so i’m sure i’ll use my new Citizenpip lunchbox responsibly. :) *fingers crossed*

 
Comment by stacey
2009-12-09 15:16:06

My lunch - the non-Amy’s, non-ramen part of it - travels from home to work in jars which are tucked into a small canvas bag that appears to have been my tote bag for day camp when I was 6. (It has my name neatly stenciled on the back.) I do like jars because even though I have a glass container for microwaving at work, sometimes I don’t want to wash another dish.

 
Comment by Jennifer
2009-12-09 15:19:12

I bought a cheap California Innovations lunch bag in September. I previously had been using plastic bags. I bring lunch every day but the bag isn’t big enough and I would love one of Citizenpip bags.

 
Comment by nikkapotamus
2009-12-09 15:51:59

My husband and I are both teachers, and both pack our lunches. He has an insulated tote that has definitely seen better days, and I switch back and forth between my tin lunch box and an insulated canvas bag. We use plastic containers inside and carry water in a klean kanteen. My daughter will be going to kindergarten next year and I would love to get her one of these lunch kits from Citizenpip!

Thanks for another great giveaway!

 
Comment by Eliza
2009-12-09 15:56:48

Oh, how cute are those? I usually bring my lunch to work in my reusable grocery bag, since I stop there on the way in. Organizational fail! This kit would so help me out.

 
Comment by Fair
2009-12-09 16:25:28

These are so cute! Right now my son’s lunch get packed in a reusable tote, but these would be so much better!

 
Comment by Valerie
2009-12-09 17:38:35

I just use the miscellaneous grocery bags I get from businesses. I try so hard to not be given them; one sales-clerk told me that I could not carry the item out of the store or put it in my backpack-I had to take a bag! So as unfashionable as it is, I just use grocery bags. This lunch kit would be a huge improvement!

 
Comment by Ken
2009-12-09 18:29:48

I typically use cheap ‘tupperware’ or re-used ziplock bags carried in a cloth bag. If I’m going to be somewhere that doesn’t have re-usable utensils, I’ll pack them as well.

 
Comment by Chia
2009-12-09 19:29:40

I usually carry my lunch in a pyrex glass container or plastic ones I reuse from the take out place. I carry it in a paper bag to work (professional much?).

 
Comment by Judith
2009-12-09 20:57:09

I typically bring lunch in a glass mason jar & use reusable bamboo flatware, but this looks much handier!

 
Comment by Nikki K
2009-12-09 22:50:19

If I pack a lunch the night before I am very organized but if I wait until the morning anything goes! Except not packing a lunch because then I would have to pay outrageous prices near where I work. This set looks amazing!

 
Comment by Celly
2009-12-09 23:04:23

I too bring my lunch in whatever canvas bag I can find. and hope it doesn’t spill…

 
Comment by Melissa
2009-12-09 23:32:24

I currently carry my lunch in a tote bag along with my mail, shoes, and anything else I am bringing to work!

 
Comment by mar
2009-12-10 00:44:18

Lunch is usually in a variety of tupperware (unfortunately not BPA-free) carried in a reusable bag. I rarely eat out for lunch but I really need to replace those tupperware containers…

 
Comment by Mellow
2009-12-10 01:23:45

I usually just put whatever we are packing up in a glass mason jar. It’s sort of sketchy carting around glass all over town though, plus I really like the idea of all the containers fitting together in a cute insulated pouch. I also use old zip locks until they fall apart, but I’m trying to move away from that because of junk leaching out of the aging plastic.

 
Comment by Andy
2009-12-10 01:32:51

I bring my lunch to community college in a cooler bungee corded in the trunk of my accent. I use ice packs (florida), and I avoid eating from the cafe.

 
Comment by Michelle
2009-12-10 04:49:54

I don’t have to pack a lunch too often but when I do, I almost always use reusable containers. Depending on the circumstance, I either put them in a reusable lunch bag or my backpack. I always take my reusable water bottle too. If I use ziplocks, I almost always reuse them (washing if necessary).

 
Comment by Jen
2009-12-10 12:13:12

Alas I only have a Smart Ones emblazoned lunch bag that is currently falling apart!

 
Comment by brandy
2009-12-10 16:12:02

For small things, I use a variety of those plastic soup containers you get from Chinese takeout, and I also have an awesome Zojirushi Mr. Bento lunch jar.

When I’m not eating leftovers, I make things that will last a few days at work (couscous, salad, etc.) and take them in “tupperware”-Preserve has some particularly nice BPA-free containers here, here and here.

But the BEST option for me, since I work very close to a couple different grocery stores, is to buy groceries and leave them at work, so I don’t need containers at all! (Of course, this only works for things that don’t have to be cooked, or can be cooked in the microwave or toaster oven.)

Comment by brandy
2009-12-10 16:12:37

Whoops, link fail… sorry about that!

 
 
Comment by ambrosia
2009-12-10 17:27:14

My husband currently carries his lunch each day in an insulated bag, with the occasional use of a Thermos, and always silverware and a cloth napkin. I’m heading back to school in just a few weeks and could definitely use a lunchbox set of my own!

 
Comment by L
2009-12-10 17:45:53

I have a crumby insluated bag that I bought 4 years ago. I wanted to buy a new one, but they are all cheaply made so I just patch mine up and keep it going.

 
Comment by Jacquelyn
2009-12-11 00:57:56

Oooh! Oooh! I saw those and thought, SO COOL! I want to add it to my holiday wishlist! And then I saw the giveaway! EEP!

Comment by Jacquelyn
2009-12-11 01:00:09

I got so excited that I hit reply too soon, apparently.

Currently, I carry my lunch in a BuiltNYC bag filled with random Tupperware-ish containers. It’s rather big and cumbersome.

 
 
Comment by Molomatic
2009-12-11 17:15:12

I use a Crocodile Creek lunch box + various plastic serving containers. This kit looks amazing!

 
Comment by martha in mobile
2009-12-12 15:56:03

Please enter me! My child’s lunch kit is cobbled together from bits and pieces. She already gets grief for using cloth napkins and bringing home her utensils for re-use. At least if her lunch kit was stylish, she might get less flak from some of her (perfectly coiffed yet brainfree) schoolmates.

 
Comment by Rondah
2009-12-12 19:12:20

I carry mine in rubbermaid containers and a zipper cooler
zachsgran1 at yahoo dot com

 
2009-12-14 15:32:06

My insulated lunch bag that I’ve used for 8 years is finally giving out, so I’m just carrying my lunch in a canvas bag. I use a Pyrex container so that I’m not microwaving my food in plastic. I’ve recently started keeping a cloth napkin at my desk, in addition to my silverware. This kit looks great — definitely appeals to the organizer in me!

 
Comment by Rachel K.
2009-12-14 17:28:16

Most days, lunch is carried in a “zero degree” lunch bag that has insulation in its walls. It’s a little bulky and not the most attractive thing, but it works.

 
Comment by CC
2009-12-15 20:15:03

I use an old insulated lunch bag stuffed with an assortment of containers. It would be great to have a new lunch kit - thanks for the chance to win!

 
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Comment by kelly
2010-08-14 09:13:05

I pack my lunch in any reuseable container I can find including a container for my smoothie. I don’t have a insulated bag that can hold these so at the moment I am using a heavy paper bag with handles that I recieved when I purchased a pair of shoes. My youngest son packs his lunch everyday in a insulated luch box and uses reusable containers or snack size baggies. My husband, when he does pack, will use a insulated bag but does not use reusable containers. this looks like it would hold all the containers and drinks making it alot easier to pack.

 
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