I have a thing for lunch boxes.  Some people love the aesthetic of tea pots, some people love vases or wine glasses.  Me, I love lunch boxes.  When I was a kid I’d spend weeks with my mom going to every store in the greater North Texas area to find the perfect lunch box.  I only bought lunch on Fridays– pizza!  Thank goodness there was no LunchBoxes.com when I was in elementary school.

This Etsy Spotlight got me all excited about my own lunch toting options this autumn.  I’ve been jonesing for a laptop lunch box (above) for quite a while now.  It is made from plastic though (but it is BPA free?), so I can’t quite pull the trigger. I had one of these metal lunch totes last year and promptly lost it (twice) once in the library and once and for good on the bus.  I feel like maybe, if I have one that will actually fit compactly into my bag I wont run the risk of up and walking away from it.

The more expensive, and slightly more beautiful options include a lacquered bento box from Japan.  Of course, I’m not going to spend $55 on a lunch box…

I also love the kids bento sets over at I Love Obento!  Still though, plastic.  I should probably just keep using 4-5 pieces of the Gladware we bought years ago (we use those puppies to death) rather than indulge in a new lunchbox… no matter how beautiful they are.

Part of me thinks I might be able to justify spending $65 on a set of four metal storage containers.  Of course, since I’ve been out in SD I’m a little less crazy about the whole plastic thing…  I mean, the trash island still freaks me the eff out, but I’m not quite as fanatical as I was 6 weeks ago.  Thus, I’m trying to avoid BPA and non-recycable plastics, but if I use plastic I’m not freak out.  Maybe this is just me trying to justify a lunch box purchase.

Good thing my SD host-family is taking me out for a sushi lunch… looking at all these Japanese lunch boxes made me crave some good sticky rice and edamame.