A frozen cloth beats plastic ice packs every time.

You can pack a completely plastic-free lunch for a hot day — the trick is keeping the food cold with something you already own. Skip the plastic wrap and zip-top bags; the real challenge is temperature, not packaging.

Use a stainless steel lunchbox or a glass container with a metal lid. Wrap sandwiches in beeswax cloth or unbleached parchment paper — it folds around a sandwich fine and doesn’t sweat like plastic bags do.

For cold without plastic: take a cotton dish towel, wet it, wring it out, fold it, and freeze it flat overnight. In the morning, wrap it around your container or lay it on top. It works like an ice pack and catches condensation too. If you have a metal water bottle, fill it halfway and freeze it — stand it next to the food and you get cold lunch plus ice water later.

Use a canvas tote or a thrifted insulated bag. Not fancy, but it doesn’t need to be. You’ll feel like a genius when your sandwich is still cool at noon.