Stainless steel and beeswax wrap solve most of it.

You can pack a fully zero-waste, plastic-free lunch with three things: a stainless steel tin, beeswax wrap, and a cloth napkin. That’s basically the entire system.

The container is the easy part. Any stainless steel bento box or old-school tiffin works. Glass jars are fine too if you’re not dropping them. The key is you own it once and it lasts forever. Don’t overthink the brand — the $15 Amazon one does the same job as the $50 one.

For wrapping, beeswax wrap replaces sandwich bags and cling film. It molds around a sandwich or cheese with the heat of your hands, and it lasts about a year before you re-wax it. If you don’t like beeswax, silicone bags work but they’re still not plastic-free technically. For snacks, skip packaging entirely: throw an apple in loose, or put nuts in a small steel container you already own.

Drinks are just a steel or glass bottle. Yogurt, dips, and sauces go in small steel or glass jars — any jam jar you already have works.

The only hard part is remembering to bring the box home. That, and actually washing the thing.