It can be tough to choose what snacks to bring on the trail, including ways to carry them. Since I don’t like having to put snacks in plastic bags and cause extra waste, I typically grab a whole bag of nuts, a whole bag of jerky, and a granola bar, and we’re out the door. Yes, these snacks fuel me up just fine on the trail, but the taste isn’t very satisfying, and it takes up a lot of room in my pack. However, I recently had the opportunity to review a new way of snacking on the snowshoe trail via the stainless steel Splash Box containers from ECOlunchbox.
About ECOlunchbox
ECOlunchbox offers a convenient and zero-waste solution to carrying lunches and snacks and is “A healthy solution for people, planet, and pocketbook.” As a company, they are helping us say goodbye to plastic by reducing our use of plastic and the waste that comes from it. In fact, the sale of their 706,925 lunchboxes last year helped to avert more than 47 million pounds of trash! This statistic alone has a huge impact, especially in our outdoor spaces.
ECOlunchbox has dozens of sustainable food-carrying containers and utensils, including their individual Splash Box and new 3-in-1 Splash Box. The 3-in-1 Splash Box includes an upper and lower compartment and Mini Splash Pod snack container and is part of their Blue Water Bento collection. This collection includes a few handy features: silicone lids and stainless steel containers, nesting and stacking capabilities, and they’re dishwasher, and oven save.
So, needless to say, I was excited to try out a sustainable product on my snowshoeing adventures that could also give me a new way to snack on the trail. I enjoyed several aspects of the ECOLunchbox 3-in-1 Splash Box and individual Splash Box throughout my review.
Easy to Use
Since the 3-in-1 Splash Box containers stack and nest on each other, they’re incredibly easy to use.
Usually, when it’s lunchtime on the trail, I find myself digging through my pack, trying to find the snacks I’ve brought with me. This can be time-consuming and frustrating, depending on my level of hunger.
The 3-in-1 Splash Box was much easier to find in my pack since the containers were nested together. So, when hunger arose, I only had to grab one item from my pack that included all of my food instead of several different snacks. The 3-in-1 Splash Box modular container is 4 1⁄4 inches wide x 5 3⁄4 inches long x 3 3⁄4 inches tall when assembled. Similarly, the individual Splash Box is 6 1⁄2 inches long, 4 3⁄4 inches wide, and 2 inches tall. So, neither container takes up much room in your pack.
Capacity/Options
While packing our snacks for the trail, I was surprised by the total capacities of the Splash Boxes. The 3-in-1 Splash Box holds 4 cups of food, and the individual Splash Box can carry 3 cups. These capacities allowed me to actually pack a delicious lunch for the trail instead of several small snacks. Plus, because the containers are sustainable, I didn’t have to worry about using plastic bags. As I mentioned before, normally, I avoid packing certain foods because I didn’t want to carry them in plastic bags and didn’t have another lightweight option. But, not this time!
For the 3-in-1 Splash box container, I cut some peppers and carrots to place in both halves of the nesting containers. In the individual Splash Box, I added one peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Finally, in the Mini Splash Pod, which nests in the 3-in-1 Splash Box, I even added a little salad dressing as a dip for the veggies since it was a warmer day. Let me say that it was delicious!
Read More: Snowshoeing Snacks and Nutrition Tips for Your Next Outing
Leakproof
At first, my husband and I were nervous that the 3-in-1 Splash Box would indeed be leakproof since it was so easy to get the silicone lids off of the stainless steel containers. However, that was not the case. We wiggled the Mini Splash Pod full of salad dressing around while on the trail and even turned it upside down, and the lid kept it completely sealed.
Silicone, the material used for the lid for each container in the Splash Box, has multiple benefits over plastic. For starters, it is highly durable, reusable, hypoallergenic, doesn’t leak, doesn’t contain BPA that is found in plastic, and has a longer lifespan. Plus, the combination of silicone lids and stainless steel 304 makes this product unbreakable and lighter than glass.
Overall
The 3-in-1 Splash Box and individual Splash Box were a very beneficial replacement for my current method of food-carrying while snowshoeing. The ethos behind ECOlunchbox and the sustainability of the products make me proud to contribute to the health of the planet. Plus, the product is so easy to use. It’s a simple way to add healthier and more delicious snacks and lunches to my current snowshoeing routine.
To learn more about plastic-free living, you can also check out Say Goodbye to Plastic, a book by the founder of ECOlunchbox, Sandra Ann Harris. Also, you can learn more about ECOlunchbox, its products, and its mission at ecolunchboxes.com.
Would you try the 3-in-1 Splash Box and waste-free products from ECOlunchbox after reading our review? Please share your insights with us in the comments below.
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